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WOMAN'S BOARD OF MISSIONS

No. "704" Congregational House, Boston, Mass.
zF9^ —

Missionary Circulating Library

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/ircuiaiing Lii^r^

nd the aabisn oostage when sent

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THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES

OF THE UNITED STATES

ADDRESSES, REPORTS, STATEMENTS OF

BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES, CONSTITUTION,

MINUTES, ROLL OF DELEGATES, ETC.

SEVENTEENTH REGULAR MEETING

COLUMBUS, OHIO, OCTOBER 10-17, 1917

PRICE 50 CENTS

OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL
FOURTEEN BEACON STREET, BOSTON, MASS.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
The National Council -

Officers and Committees 5

Missionary Agencies • 10

Other Denominational Agencies 12

Sessions 13

Constitution and By-Laws 14

Minutes 30

Delegates 66

Reports

Executive Committee 92

Corporation .' ; 117

Secretary 119

Treasurer 134

Commission on Missions 138

Congregationalism in the South 160

Deputation to South 163

National Plan of Benevolence 204

Commission on Evangelism 213

Commission on Social Service 221

Commission on Temperance 239

Commission on Comity, Federation and Unity 243

Relations between Congregationalists and Disciples 248

Commission on Public Worship 253

Commission on ReUgious and Moral Education 257

Religious Education in Colleges 272

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions 280

Congregational Home Missionary Society 293

American Missionary Association 300

Congregational Church Building Society 322

Congregational Education Society 331

Congregational Sunday School and Publishing Society 340

Congregational Board of Ministerial Relief 358

Annuity Fund for Congregational Ministers 361

Federal Council of the Churches of Christ 363

Addresses

Moderator 368

Rev. Charles S. Mills 384

Extracts 397

Index 413

y/t-

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL

OFFICERS 1917-19

Moderator, Rev. William Horace Day, Bridgeport, Conn.

Assistant Moderators, Rev. William E. Barton, Oak Park, Illinois;

Rev. Harold M. Kingsley, Talladega, Alabama.
Secretary, Rev. Hubert C. Herring, Boston, Mass.; Treasurer, Rev.

John J. Walker, Boston, Mass.

COMMITTEES AND COMMISSIONS
Executive Committee

Moderator and Secretary, Members ex officiis

For two years. Rev. Charles F. Carter, Hartford, Conn., Chairman;
Mr. Albert M. Lyon, Boston, Mass.; Rev. Robert R. Wicks,
Holyoke, Mass.

For four years. Mr. Van A. Wallin, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Mr. Her-
bert J. Brown, Portland, Me.; Mr. O. J. Hill, Kansas City, Mo.

For six years. Rev. E. H. Byington, West Roxbury, Mass.; Mr. W. W.
Mills, Marietta, Ohio; Mr. F. W. Chamberlain, Chicago, 111.

Nominating Committee

For two years. Pres. Charles S. Nash, Berkeley, Cal., Chairman; Rev.
Frank K. Sanders, New York Citj'; Rev. Dan F. Bradley, Cleve-
land, Ohio; Rev. Morris H. Turk, Kansas City, Mo.

For four years. Rev. Robert E. Brown, Waterbury, Conn.; Pres.
James E. Gregg, Hampton, Va.; Rev. Archibald Hadden, Muske-
gon, Mich.; Rev. Harry E. Peabody, Appleton, Wis.

Commission on Missions

Secretary, member ex officio

For two years. Pres. Henry Churchill King, Oberlin, Ohio, Chairman,
Rev. Edward M. Noyes, Newton Centre, Mass.; Miss Sarah
Louise Day, Boston, Mass.; Mr. Roger Leavitt, Cedar Falls, la.;
Rev. William R. Campbell, Roxbury, Mass.; Rev. William
Horace Day, Bridgeport, Conn.; Mr. Dyer B. Holmes, New York
City; Mr. Arthur L. Shipman, Hartford, Conn.; Rev. Albert
Parker Fitch,, Amherst, Mass.; Rev. Charles S. Mills, Montclair,
N. J.; Mrs. A. M. Gibbons, Cleveland, Ohio; Rev. Arthur H.
Bradford, Rutland, Vt.

6 OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES [1917

For four years. Pres. Donald J. Cowling, Northfield, Minn.; Rev. Carl
S. Patton, Los Angeles, Cal.; Rev. Jay T. Stocking, Upper Mont-
clair, N. J.; Pres. J. H. T. Main, Grinnell, la.; Rev. C. B. Emerson,
Detroit, Mich.; Mr. Frank Kimball, Chicago, 111.; Rev. Watson L.
Phillips, Shelton, Conn.; Mr. John R. Rogers, Brooklyn, N. Y.;
Dr. Lucien C. Warner, New York City; Mrs. Williston Walker,
New Haven, Conn.; Rev. Clarence F. Swift, Fall River, Mass.

Commission on Evangelism

Pres. Ozora S. Davis, Chicago, 111., Chairman; Rev. Ernest Bourner
Allen, Toledo, O.; Rev. J. A. Jenkins, Chicago, 111.; Mr. Fred B.
Smith, New York City; Rev. C. H. Beale, Milwaukee, Wis.; Mr.
Allen C. Emery, Boston, Mass.; Mr. Dwight P. Goddard, Ann
Arbor, Mich.

Commission on Social Service

Rev. Nicholas Van der Pyl, Oberhn, O., Chairman; Rev. Henry A.
Atkinson, Boston, Mass., Secretary; Prof. Fred B. Hill,
Northfield, Minn.; Rev. Hastings H. Hart, New York City;
Mrs. Raymond Robins, Chicago, 111.; Mr. John G. Jennings,
Cleveland, O.; Rev. Charles W. Merriam, Grand Rapids, Mich.;
Rev. O. L. Kiplinger, Mansfield, 0.

Commission on Religious and Moral Education

Prof. Luther A. Weigle, New Haven, Conn., Chairman; Prof. Laura
H. Wild, South Hadley, Mass.; Prof. Hugh Hartshorne, New
York City; Rev. O. C. Helming, Chicago, 111.; Prof. Charles E.
RuGH, Berkeley, Cal.; Mr. Harry Wade Hicks, New York City;
Mr. Norton M. Little, Washington, D. C.

Commission on Comity, Federation and Unity

Rev. Raymond Calkins, Cambridge, Mass., Chairman; Rev. Newman
Smyth, New Haven, Conn.; Prof. Robert Seneca Smith, North-
ampton, Mass.; Prof. L. F. Anderson, Walla Walla, Wash.; Rev,
Arthur P. Pratt, Greenfield, Mass.; Rev. H. O. Hannum, Holyoke,
Mass.; Rev. W. T. McElveen, New York City.

Commission on Temperance

Rev. Frank G. Smith, Kansas City, Mo., Chairman; Rev. Ross W.
Sanderson, Lawrence, Kan.; Rev. Charles M. Sheldon, Topeka,
Kan.; Rev. Robert Porter, St. Joseph, Mo.; Mr. William Shaw,
Boston, Mass.; Mrs. Catherine Waugh McCulloch, Evanston,
111.; Rev. Clarence A. Vincent, Winter Park, Fla.

1917] OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES 7

Commission on Organization

Rev. John P. Sanderson, Chicago, 111., Chairman; Pres. Charles S.
Nash, Berkeley, Cal.; Rev.' William E. Barton, Oak Park, 111.;
Rev. Edgar L. Heermance, International Falls, Minn.; Prof.
WiLLisTON Walker, New Haven, Conn.; Mr. William B. Shelton,
New York City; Mr. W. F. Bohn, Oberlin, O:

Commission on Public Worship

Rev. Charles H. Richards, New York City, Chairman; Rev. Lucius
H. Thayer, Portsmouth, N.H.; Dean Edward I. Bosworth, Oberlin,
O.; Rev. John W. Buckham, Berkeley, Cal.; Prof. Waldo S. Pratt,
Hartford, Conn.; Pres. W. Douglas, Hartford, Conn.

National Service Commission

Pres. Kenyon L. Butterfield, Amherst, Mass., Chairman; Rev. Henry
A. Atkinson, 289 Fourth Ave., New York City, Secretary; Dean
Charles R. Brown, New Haven, Conn.; Rev. Edward D. Eaton,
Washington, D. C; Rev. Nehemiah Boynton, Brooklyn, N. Y.;
Rev. Livingston L. Taylor, Canandaigua, N. Y.; Mr. Ernest
H. Abbott, New York City; Hon. Herbert Knox Smith, Hartford,
Conn.; Rev. Ashley D. Leavitt, Portland, Me.; Rev. Harry P.
Dewey, Minneapolis, Minn.; Rev. Harry E. Peabody, Appleton,
Wis.; Rev. Frank Dyer, Tacoma, Wash.; Rev. J. Edward Kirbye,
Des Moines, la.; Rev. Dwight S. Bayley, Birmingham, Ala.; Maj.
Ira H. Evans, Austin, Texas; Rev. H. A. Bridgman, Boston, Mass.;
Mr. F. E. Bogart, Detroit, Mich.; Rev. D. F. Fox, Pasadena, Cal.;
Rev. Roy B. Guild, New York City; Pres. Vivian Blanche Small,
Painesville, O.; Rev. C. R. R.^ymond, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Mr.
Edwin G. Warner, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Mr. Stanley Frost, New York
City; Rev. Willard S. Sperry, Boston, Mass.; Mr. Warner
James, New York City; Mr. J. R. Rogers, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Mr.
Samuel P. Thrasher, New York City; Pres. Ozora S. Davis,
Chicago, 111.; Rev. Roy M. Houghton, New Haven, Conn.

Pilgrim Memorial Fund Commission

Rev. Charles S. Mills, Montclair, N. J., Chairman; Rev. Herman F.
SwARTZ, 287 Fourth Ave., New York City, Executive Secretary.

Executive Committee
Rev. William E. Barton, Oak Park, 111., Secretary; Hon. Henry M.
Beardsley, Kansas City, Mo.; Pres. D. J. Cowling, Northfield,
Minn.; Rev. William Horace Day, Bridgeport, Conn.; Mr. Lucius
R. Eastman, New York City; Rev. H. C. Herring, Boston, Mass.;
Mr. Arthur S. Johnson, Boston, Mass.; Rev. Cornelius H,
Patton, Boston, Mass.

OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES [1917

Members

Prof. L. F. Anderson, Walla Walla, Wash.; Mr. A. C. Angell, Detroit,
Mich.; Rev. G. Glen Atkins, Detroit, Mich.; Rev. F. Q. Blanch^
ard, Cleveland, O.; Mr. F. A. Bogart, Detroit, Mich.; Rev. Nehe-
MiAH BoYNTON, Brookl}^!!, N. Y.; Rev. Dan F. Bradley, Cleveland,
O.; Rev. Henry Stiles Bradley, Worcester, Mass.; Mr. T. H.
Brewer, Spokane, Wash.; Mr. F. H. Brooks, St. Johnsbury, Vt.;
Hon. M. J. A. Buchanan, Buchanan, N. D.; Mr. F. A. M. Burrell,
Brookyn, N. Y.; Rev. Charles E. Burton, New York City; Pres.
M. L. Burton, Minneapolis, Minn.; Mr. A. S. Burwell, Seattle,
Wash.; Mr. C. A. Christopherson, Sioux Falls, S. D.; Prof. Calvin
M. Clark, Bangor, Me.; Mr. E. P. Clark, Los Angeles, Cal.; Mrs.
George H. Clark, Los Angeles, Cal.; Judge L. W. Cleaveland,
New Haven, Conn.; Prof. Theodore F. Collier, Providence, R. I.;
Mr. H. G. Cordley, Glen Ridge, N.'J.; Miss Lettie M. Crafts,
Minneapolis, Minn.; Hon. Winthrop M. Crane, Dalton, Mass.;
Mr. L. a. Crossett, Boston, Mass.; Mr. E. W. Decker,
Minneapolis, Minn.; Mrs. E. A. Evans, Mill Valley, Cal.;
Mr. B. H. Fancher, New York City; Prof. H. W. Farnam,
New Haven, Conn.; Mr. Horatio Ford, Cleveland, O.;
Rev. John Gardner, Chicago, 111.; Mrs. Josephine R. Gile, Colo-
rado Springs, Colo.; Prof. A. L. Gillett, Hartford, Conn.; Mr.
Charles Welles Gross, Hartford, Conn.; Mr. Frank J. Harwood,
Appleton, Wis.; Mr. M. B. Hazeltine, Prescott, Ariz.; Prof. Fred
B. Hill, Northfield, Minn.; Mrs. E. L. -Hinman, Lincoln, Neb.;
Mr. Thomas H. Hood, Denver, Colo.; Rev. J. Percival Huget,
Brooklyn, N. Y.; Rev. G. A; Hulbert, Omaha, Neb.; Pres. Frank
E. Jenkins, Demorest, Ga.; Rev. H. H. Kelsey, San Francisco,
Cal.; Mr. Frank Kimball, Oak Park, 111.; Mr. Walter B. Lasher,
Bridgeport, Conn.; Hon. James Logan, Worcester, Mass.; Mr.
James Lyman, Chicago, 111.; Mr. Charles F. Marble, Worcester,
Mass.; Mr. George W. Marston, San Diego, Cal.; Rev. Oscar
E. Maurer, New Haven, Conn.; Mr. F. D. McCornack, Sioux
City, la.; Mr. S. A. Merrill, Des Moines, la.; Rev. Irving W.
Metcalf, OberHn, O.; Mr. Edward C. Mills, Boston, Mass.; Mr.
W. W. Mills, Marietta, O.; Rev. W. J. Minchin, Mason City, la.;
Mr. S. W. Mudd, Los Angeles, Cal.; Mr. Starr J. Murphy, New
York City; Mr. A. J. Nason, St. Paul, Minn.; Mr. William H.
Nichols, Washington, D. C; Prof. E. C. Norton, Claremont, Cal.;
Rev. Albert W. Palmer, Honolulu, Hawaii; Rev. James E. Per-
shing, Oklahoma City, Okla.; Mr. C. F. Pettyjohn, Olathe, Kan.;
Mr. H. M. Pflager, St. Louis, Mo.; Mr. C. S. Pike, Jacksonville,
Fla.; Mr. Charles S. Pillsbury, MinneapoUs, Minn.; Mr. F. G.
Platt, New Britain, Conn.; Mr. M. E. Preisch, Buffalo, N. Y.;
Rev. H. H. Proctor, Atlanta, Ga.; Rev. Lewis T. Reed, Brooklyn,
N. Y.; Rev. Wilfrid A. Rowell, Beloit, Wis.; Mr. James Scher-
merhorn, Detroit, Mich.; Mr. A. M. Sheldon, Minneapohs, Minn.;

1917] OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES 9

Rev. T. M. Shipherd, Milwaukee, Wis.; Mr. Paul Sleman, Wash-
ington, D. C; Mr. William Grant Smith, Cleveland, O.; Rev.
Henry A. Stimson, Hartford, Conn.; Mr. W. E. Sweet, Denver,
Colo.; Rev. Lucius H. Thayer, Portsmouth, N. H.; Pres. John
M. Thomas, Middlebury, Vt.; Mrs. F. F. Thompson, New York
City; Rev. C. N. Thorp, Duluth, Minn.; Mr. Loren D. Towle,
Boston, Mass.; Mr. Frank B. Towne, Holyoke, Mass.; Rev. F. J.
Van Horn, Oakland, Cal.; Mr. Franklin H. Warner, New York
City; Dr. Lucien C. Warner, New York City, Mr. H. J. Wells,
Kingston, R. I.; Mr. Charles C. West, Montclair, N. J.; Mr.
David Whitcomb, Seattle, Wash.; Mr. W. C. White, Milwaukee,
Wis.; Mr. Arthur F. Whitin, Whitinsville, Mass.; Mr. E. M.
Whiting, Whiting, la.; Pres. P. P. Womer, Topeka, Kan.

CORPORATION FOR THE NATIONAL COUNCIL

Rev. William Horace Day, Bridgeport, Connecticut, President; Rev.
Hubert C. Herring, 14 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts,
Secretary; Hon. Simeon E. Baldwin, Connecticut; Rev. Charles
S. Mills, New Jersey; Mr. B. H. Fancher, New York; Mr. S. H.
Miller, New York; Mr. Samuel Wool\'erton, New York; Mr.
Willard E. Edmister, New York; Mr. Russell S. Walker, New
York; Mr. Lucius R. Eastman, New York; Mr. Arthur S. John-
son, Massachusetts; Hon. T. C. McMillan, Illinois; Hon. H. M.
Beardsley, Missouri; Pres. D. J. Cowling, Minnesota; Hon.
Epaphroditos Peck, Connecticut; Hon. John H. Perry, Con-
necticut; Rev. William E. Barton, Illinois.

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL

MISSIONARY AGENCIES

THE AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN

MISSIONS
14 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.
President, Vice-President,

Rev. Edward C. Moore. David P. Jones.

Foreign Department, Editorial Department,

Rev. James L. Barton, Sec. Rev. William E. Strong, Sec.

Rev. Enoch F. Bell, Asso. Sec.
Home Department, Treasury Department,

Rev. Cornelius H. Patton, Sec. Frank H. Wiggin, Treasurer.

Rev. Edward L. Smith, Sec. John G. Hosmer,

Rev. D. Brewer Eddy, Asso. Sec. Pub. and Purchasing Agent.

District Secretaries,

Middle District, Rev. Edw L. Smith, 287 Fourth Avenue, New York.

Interior District, Rev. A. N. Hitchcock, 19 So. La Salle Street, Chicago.

Pacific District, Rev. H. H. Kelsey, 417 Market Street, San Francisco.

THE CONGREGATIONAL HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY
287 Fourth Avenue, New York

President, General Secretary,

Rev. Rockwell H. Potter. Rev. Charles E. Burton.

Assistant Secretary, Secretary Woman's Department,

Rev. William S. Beard. Miss Miriam L. Woodberry.

Treasurer, Charles H. Baker.

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH BUILDING SOCIETY
287 Fourth Avenue, New York
President, General Secretary,

Rev. Rockwell H. Potter. Rev. Charles E. Burton.

Church Building Secretary, Treasurer,

Rev. Charles H. Richards. Charles H. Baker.

Field Secretaries,
Rev. William W. Leete, 14 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.
Rev. John P. Sanderson, 19 South La Salle Street, Chicago, 111.
Rev. H. H. Wikoff, 417 Market Street, San Francisco, Cal.
Assistant Field Secretary,

Mrs. C. H. Taintor, Clinton, Conn.

1917] MISSIONARY AGENCIES 11

THE CONGREGATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL EXTENSION
SOCIETY

287 Fourth Avenue, New York City

President, General Secretary,

Rev. Rockwell H. Potter. Rev. Charles E. Burton.

Treasurer, Charles H. Baker

THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION
287 Fourth 'Avenue, New York

President, Corresponding Secretaries,
Pres. Henry C. King. Rev. H. Paul Douglass,

Honorary Secretary and Editor, Rev. George L. Cady.

Rev. a. F. Beard. Associate Secretaries,

Treasurer, Rev. Rodney W. Roundy,

Irving C. Gaylord. Rev. Samuel Lane Loomis.

Secretary Bureau of Wo7nan's Work, Mrs. F. W. Wilcox.

District Secretaries,

Rev. G. H. Gutterson, 14 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.
Rev. Frank N. White, 19 So. La Salle Street, Chicago, 111.
Rev. George W. Hinman, 21 Brenhain Place, San Francisco, Cal.

Field Secretary, Mrs. Ida V. Woodbury.

THE CONGREGATIONAL EDUCATION SOCIETY
14 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.

President, General Secretary,
Rev. Clarence F. Swift. Rev. F. M. Sheldon.

Treasurer, Assistant Secretary,
Harry M. Nelson. Rev. E. S. Tead.

Secretary Social Service, Secretary Missionary Education,
Rev. Henry A. Atkinson. Rev. Miles B. Fisher.

THE CONGREGATIONAL BOARD OF MINISTERIAL RELIEF
THE CONGREGATIONAL ANNUITY FUND

287 Fourth Avenue, New York

President, Secretary,

Rev. Henry A. Stimson. Rev. William A. Rice,

Treasurer, B. H. Fancher.

12 MISSIONARY AGENCIES [1917

THE WOMAN'S BOARD OF MISSIONS

14 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.

Home Secretary, Treasurer,

Miss Helen B. Calder. Mrs. Frank Gaylord Cook.

THE WOMAN'S BOARD OF MISSIONS OF THE INTERIOR

19 So. La Salle Street, Room 1315, Chicago, III.

Secretary, Treasurer,

Mrs. Lucius O. Lee. Mrs. S. E. Hurlbut.

THE WOMAN'S BOARD OF MISSIONS FOR THE PACIFIC

417 Market Street, San Francisco, Cal.

Home Secretary, Treasurer,

Mrs. H. M. Tenney. Mrs. W. W. Ferrier.

WOMAN'S HOME MISSIONARY FEDERATION

President, Mrs. H. H. Hart, 7 Colden Avenue, White Plains, N. Y.
General Secretary, Miss Edith Scamman, 287 Fourth Avenue, New York

City.
Treasurer, Mrs. Harry E. Smith, 105 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains,

N.Y.

OTHER DENOMINATIONAL AGENCIES

THE AMERICAN CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION

Organized, 1853. Chartered, 1854.
Headquarters, Library, Congregational House, Boston

President, Treasurer,

Arthur S. Johnson. Augustus S. Lovett.

Cor. and Rec. Secretary. Lib. and Asst. Treasurer,

Thomas Todd, Jr. Rev. William H. Cobb.

CONGREGATIONAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY
14 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.

President, Gen'l Secretary and Business M'g'r

Rev. Clarence F. Swift. Rev. F. M. Sheldon.

Treasurer, Harry M. Nelson.

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CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE
NATIONAL COUNCIL

(Revised)

The Congregational Churches of the United States, by-
delegates in National Council assembled, reserving all the
rights and cherished memories belonging to this organization
under its former constitution, and declaring the steadfast
allegiance of the churches composing the Council to the faith
which our fathers confessed, which from age to age has found
its expression in the historic creeds of the Church universal
and of this communion, and affirming our loyalty to the basic
principles of our representative democracy, hereby set forth
the things most surely believed among us concerning faith,
polity, and fellowship :

Faith

We believe in God the Father, infinite in wisdom, goodness,
and love; and in Jesus Christ, his Son, our Lord and Saviour,
who for us and our salvation lived and died and rose again
and liveth evermore; and in the Holy Spirit, who taketh of
the things of Christ and revealeth them to us, renewing,
comforting, and inspiring the souls of men. We are united
in striving to know the will of God as taught in the Holy
Scriptures, and in our purpose to walk in the ways of the
Lord, made known or to be made known to us. We hold it
to be the mission of the Church of Christ to proclaim the
gospel to all mankind, exalting the worship of the one true
God, and laboring for the progress of knowledge, the promo-
tion of justice, the reign of peace, and the realization of
human brotherhood. Depending, as did our fathers, upon
the continued guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead us into all
truth, we work and pray for the transformation of the world
into the kingdom of God; and we look with faith for the
triumph of righteousness and the life everlasting.

1917] constitution and by-laws 15

Polity
We believe in the freedom and responsibility of the indi-
vidual soul, and the right of private judgment. We hold to
the autonomy of the local church and its independence of
all ecclesiastical control. We chejish the fellowship of the
churches, united in district, state, and national bodies, for
counsel and co-operation in matters of common concern.

The Wider Fellowship
While affirming the liberty of our churches, and the valid-
ity of our ministry, we hold to the unity and catholicity of
the Church of Christ, and will unite with all its branches in
hearty co-operation; and will earnestly seek, so far as in us
lies, that the prayer of our Lord for his disciples may be
answered, that they all may be one.

United in support of these principles, the Congregational
Churches in National Council assembled agree in the adop-
tion of the following Constitution :

Article I. — Name
The name of this body is the National Council of the Con-
gregational Churches of the United States.

Article II. — Purpose
The purpose of the National Council is to foster and ex-
press the substantial unity of the Congregational churches
in faith, polity, and work; to consult upon and devise mea-
sures and maintain agencies for the promotion of their com-
mon interests; to co-operate with any corporation or body
under control of or affiliated with the Congregational churches,
or any of them; and to do and to promote the work of the
Congregational churches of the United States in their na-
tional, international, and interdenominational relations.

Article III. — Members
1. Delegates, (a) The churches in each District Associa-
tion shall be represented by one delegate. Each association
having more than ten churches shall be entitled to elect one
additional delegate for each additional ten churches or major

16 CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS [1917

fraction thereof. The churches in each State Conference
shall be represented by one delegate. Each conference hav-
ing churches whose aggregate membership is more than ten
thousand shall be entitled to elect one additional delegate
for each additional ten thousand members or major fraction
thereof. States having associations but no conference, or
vice versa, shall be entitled to their full representation.

(b) Delegates shall be divided, as nearly equally as practi-
cable, between ministers and laymen.

(d) Any delegate who shall remove from the bounds of the
conference or association by which he has been elected to the
Council shall be deemed by the fact of that removal to have
resigned his membership in the Council, and the Conference
or Association may proceed to fill the unexpired term by
election.

2. Honorary Members. Former moderators and assistant
moderators of the Council, ministers serving the churches
entertaining the Council, persons selected as preachers or to
prepare papers, or to serve upon committees or commissions
chosen by the Council, missionaries present who are in the
service of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions and have been not less than seven years in that
service, persons appointed by national missionary boards
as corporate members, executive officials of such boards
whose scope of responsibility is coextensive with the nation,
together with one delegate each from such theological semi-
naries and colleges as are recognized by the Council, may be
enrolled as honorary members and shall be entitled to all
privileges of members in the meeting of the Council except
those of voting and initiation of business.

3. Corresponding Members. The Council shall not increase
its own voting membership, but members of other denomi-
nations, present by invitation or representing their denomina-
tions, representatives of Congregational bodies in other lands,
and other persons present who represent important interests,
or have rendered distinguished services, may, by vote, be
made corresponding members, and entitled to the courtesy
of the floor.

1917] CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 17

4. Term of Membership. The term of delegates shall be
four years. Elections to fill vacancies shall be for the re-
mainder of the unexpired term.

The term of a member shall begin at the opening of the
next stated meeting of the Council after his election, and
shall expire with the opening of the second stated meeting of
the Council thereafter. He shall be a member of any inter-
vening special meeting of the Council.

Article IV. — Meetings

1. Stated Meetings. The churches shall meet in National
Council once in two years, the time and place of meeting to
be announced at least six months previous to the meeting.

2. Special Meetings. The National Council shall convene
in special meeting whenever any seven of the general state
organizations so request.

3. Quorum. Delegates present from a majority of the
states entitled to representation in the Council shall consti-
tute a quorum.

Article V. — By-Laws

The Council may make and alter By-Laws at any stated
meeting by a two-thirds vote of members present and vot-
ing; provided, that no new By-Law shall be enacted and no
By-Law altered or repealed on the day on which the change
is proposed.

Article VL — Amendments

This Constitution shall not be altered or amended, except
at a stated meeting, and by a two-thirds vote of those pres-
ent and voting, notice thereof having been given at a pre-
vious stated meeting, or the proposed alteration having been
requested b}^ some general state organization of churches en-
titled to representation in the Council, and published with
the notification of the meeting

18 CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS [19l7

BY-LAWS
I. — The Call of a Meeting of the Council

1. The call for any meeting shall be issued by the Execu-
tive Committee and signed by their chairman and by the
Secretary of the Council. It shall contain a list of topics
proposed for consideration at the meeting. The Secretary
shall seasonably furnish blank credentials and other needful
papers to the scribes of the several district and state organi-
zations of the churches entitled to representation in the
Council.

2. The meetings shall ordinarily be held in the latter part
of October.

II. — The Formation of the Roll

Immediately after the call to order the Secretary shall
collect the credentials of delegates present, and these persons
shall be prima facie the voting membership for purposes of
immediate organization. Contested delegations shall not de-
lay the permanent organization, but shall be referred to the
Committee on Credentials, all contested delegations refrain-
ing from voting until their contest is settled.

III. — The Moderator

1. At each stated meeting of the Council there shall be
chosen from among the members of the Council, a Modera-
tor and a first and a second Assistant Moderator, who shall
hold office for two years and until their successors are elected
and qualified.

2. The Moderator immediately after his election shall take
the chair, and after prayer shall at once proceed to com-
plete the organization of the Council and to cause rules of
order to be adopted.

3. The representative function of the Moderator shall be
that of visiting and addressing churches and associations
upon their invitations, and of representing the Council and
the Congregational churches in the wider relations of Chris-
tian fellowship, so far as he may be able and disposed. It
is understood that all his acts and utterances shall be devoid

1917] CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 19

of authority and that for them shall be claimed and to them
given only such weight and force as inhere in the reason of
them.

4. The Moderator shall preside at the opening of the
stated meeting of the Council following that at which he is
elected, and may deliver an address on a subject of his own
selection.

IV. — The Secretary

The Secretary shall keep the records and conduct the cor-
respondence of the Council and of the Executive Committee.
He shall edit the Year-Book and other publications, and shall
send out notices of all meetings of the Council and of its
Executive Committee, He shall aid the committees and
commissions of the Council and shall be secretary of the
Commission on Missions. He shall be available for advice
and help in matters of polity and constructive organization,
and render to the churches such services as shall be appro-
priate to his office. He may, like the Moderator, represent
the Council and the churches in interdenominational rela-
tions. For his aid one or more assistants shall be chosen at
each meeting of the Council to serve during such meeting.

V. — The Treasurer

The Treasurer shall receive and hold all income contrib-
uted or raised to meet the expenses of the Council, shall dis-
burse the same on the orders of the Executive Committee, and
shall give bond in such sum as the Executive Committee shall
from time to time determine.

VI. — Term of Office

The term of office of the Secretary, Treasurer, and of any
other officer not otherwise provided for shall begin at the
close of the meeting at which they are chosen, and continue
until the close of the next stated meeting, and until their
successors are elected and qualified.

VII. — Committees

As soon as practicable after taking the chair, the Modera-
tor shall cause to be read to the Council the names proposed

20 CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS [1917

by the Nominating Committee for a Business Committee and
a Committee on Credentials. These names shall be chosen
so as to secure representation to different parts of the coun-
try, and the names shall be published in the denominational
papers at least one month before the meeting of the Council,
and printed with the call of the meeting. The Council may
approve these nominations or change them in whole or in part.

1. The Committee on Credentials. The Committee on
Credentials shall prepare and report as early as practicable
a roll of members. Of this committee the Secretary shall be
a member.

2. The Business Committee. The Business Committee shall
consist of not less than nine members. It shall prepare a
docket for the use of the Council, and subject to its ap-
pioval. All business to be proposed to the Council shall
first be presented to this committee, but the Council may at
its pleasure consider any item of business for which such
provision has been refused by the committee.

3. The Nominating Committee. The Nominating Com-
mittee shall consist of nine members, to be elected by the
Council on the nomination of the Moderator, and shall serve
from the close of one stated meeting till the close of the
following stated meeting of the Council. Five members shall
be so chosen for four years, and four for two years, and
thereafter members shall be chosen for four years. This
committee shall nominate to the Council all officers, com-
mittees, and commissions for which the Council does not
otherwise provide. But the Council may, at its pleasure,
choose committees, commissions,* or officers by nomination
from the floor or otherwise as it shall from time to time
determine. Members of the Nominating Committee who
have served for a full term shall not be eligible for re-election
until after an interval of two years.

4. The Executive Committee. The Executive Committee
shall consist of the Moderator, the Secretary, and nine other
persons, and shall be so chosen that the terms of the elected
members shall ultimately be six years, the term of three
members expiring at each stated meeting of the Council.

5. Other Committees. (1) Other committees may be ap-
pointed from time to time, and in such manner as the Coun-

1917] CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 21

cil shall determine, to make report during the meeting at
which they are appointed.

(2) On such committees any member of the Council, voting
or honorary, is eligible for service.

(3) All such committees terminate their existence with the
meeting at which they are appointed.

(4) No question or report will be referred to a committee
except by vote of the Council.

(5) Committees shall consist of five persons unless other-
wise stated.

(6) Unless otherwise ordered, the first named member of a
committee shall be chairman.

VIII. — The Executive Committee

1. The Executive Committee shall transact such business
as the Council shall from time to time direct, and in the
intervals between meetings of the Council shall represent the
Council in all matters not belonging to the corporation and
not otherwise provided for. They shall have authority to
contract for all necessary expenditures and to appoint one or
more of their number who shall approve and sign all bills for
payment; shall consult the interests of the Council and act
for it in intervals between meetings in all matters of business
and finance, subject to the approval of the Council; and
shall make a full report of all their doings, the consideration
of which shall be first in order of business after organization.

2. They may fill any vacancy occurring in their own num-
ber or in any commission, committee, or office in the inter-
vals of meeting, the persons so appointed to serve until the
next meeting of the Council.

3. They shall appoint anj'- committee or commission or-
dered by the Council, but not otherwise appointed; and
committees or commissions so appointed shall be entered in
the minutes as by action of the Council.

4. They shall select the place, and shall specify in the call
the place and precise time at which each meeting of the
Council shall begin.

5. They shall provide a suitable form of voucher for the
expenditures of the Council, and shall secure a proper audit-
ing of its accounts.

22 CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS [1917

6. They shall prepare a definite program for the Council,
choosing a preacher and selecting topics for discussion and
persons to prepare and present papers thereon.

7, They shall assign a distinct time, not to be changed
except by special vote of the Council, for

(a) The papers appointed to be read before the Council.

(6) The commissions appointed by one Council to report
at the next, which may present the topics referred to them
for discussion or action.

All other business shall be set for other specified hours, and
shall not displace the regular order, except by special vote of
the Council.

IX. — Commissions

1. Special committees appointed to act ad interim, other
than the Executive Committee and Nominating Committee,
shall be designated as commissions.

2. Commissions are expected to report at the next meet-
ing following their appointment, and no commission other
than the Commission on Missions shall continue beyond the
next stated meeting of the Council except by special vote of
the Council.

3. No commission shall incur expense except as author-
ized by the Council, or its Executive Committee.

4. Any member in good standing of a Congregational
church is eligible for service on any commission or ad interim
committee.

5. Commissions shall choose their own chairmen, but the
first named member shall call the first meeting and act as
temporary chairman during the organization of the com-
mission.

X. — Congregational National Societies

With the consent of our National Missionary Societies,
whose approval is a necessary preliminary, the following
shah' define the relation of these societies to the National
Council :

The foreign missionary work of the Congregational churches
of the United States shall be carried on under the auspices of

1917] CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 23

the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
and the co-operating Woman's Boards of Missions; and the
home missionary work of these churches, for the present
under the auspices of the Congregational Home Missionary-
Society, the American Missionary Association, the Con-
gregational Education Society, the Congregational Church
Building Society, and the Congregational Sunday-school and
Publishing Society, hereinafter called the Home Societies, and
the Woman's Home Missionary Federation.

1. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis-
sions. This Board and the co-operating Woman's Boards
shall be the agency of the Congregational churches for the
extension of Christ's kingdom abroad.

a. Membership. The voting membership of the American
Board shall consist, in addition to the present life members,
of two classes of persons, (a) One class shall be composed
of the members of the National Council, who shall be deemed
nominated as corporate members of the American Board by
their election and certification as members of the said Na-
tional Council, said nominations to be ratified and the per-
sons so named elected by the American Board. Their terms
as corporate members of the American Board shall end, in
each case, when they cease to be members of the National
Council. (6) There may also be chosen by the American
Board one hundred and fifty corporate members-at-large.
The said one hundred and fifty corporate members-at-large
shall be chosen in three equal sections, and so chosen that
the term of each section shall be ultimately six years, one
section being chosen every second year at the meeting in
connection with the meeting of the National Council. No
new voting members, other than herein provided, shall be
created.

b. Officers and Committees. The officers and committees of
the American Board shall be such as the Board itself may
from time to time determine.

c. Meetings. Regular meetings of the American Board shall
be held annually. That falling in the same year in which
the National Council holds its meeting shall be held in con-
nection with the meeting of said Council. Meetings in other
years shall be held at such time and place as the Board may

24 CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS [1917

determine. Important business, especially such as involves
extensive modifications of policy, shall, so far as possible, be
reserved for consideration in those meetings held in connec-
tion with the meeting of the National Council.

d. Reports. It shall be the duty of the American Board
to make a full and accurate report of its condition and work
to the National Council at each stated meeting of that body.

2. The Home Societies. These societies, with the Woman's
Home Missionary Federation, shall be the agencies of the
Congregational churches for the extension of Christ's kingdom
in the United States.

a. Membership. The voting membership of the several
home societies shall consist, in addition to such existing life
members and other members of the society in question as
may be regarded as legally necessary, of two classes of
persons.

(a) One class shall be composed of the members of the
National Council so long as they remain members of said
Council.

(b) There may also be chosen corporate members-at-large
by the said societies, in the following numbers, viz.: by the
Congregational Home Missionary Society, ninety; by the
American Missionary Association, sixty; by the Congrega-
tional Church Building Society, thirty; by the Congregational
Education Society, eighteen; and by the Congregational
Sunday-school and Publishing Society, eighteen. The said
corporate members-at-large shall be chosen by each of the
said societies in three equal sections and so chosen that the
term of each section shall be ultimately six years, one sec-
tion being chosen every second year at the meeting held in
connection with the meeting of the National Council. In
this selection one fifth of the said corporate members-at-
large may be chosen from the organizations for the support
of Congregational activities affiliated in the Woman's Home
Missionary Federation. No new voting members, other
than herein provided, shall be created by any society.

h. Officers and Committees. The officers and committees of
the several home societies shall be such as the societies them-
selves may from time to time determine.

c. Meetings. Regular meetings of the Home Societies

1917] CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 25

shall be held annually. Those falling in the same year in
which the National Council holds its meeting shall be held
in connection with the meeting of said Council. Meetings
in other years shall be held at such times and places as the
societies themselves may determine. Important business,
especially such as involves extensive modifications of policy,
shall, so far as possible, be reserved for consideration in those
meetings held in connection with the , meeting of the Na-
tional Council.

d. Reports. It shall be the duty of each of the Home So-
cieties to make a full and accurate report of its condition and
work to the National Council at each stated meeting of that
body.

XI. — The Commission on Missions

1. On nomination by the standing committee on Nomina-
tions, the National Council shall elect fourteen persons, and
on nomination by the several national societies, home and
foreign, shall also elect one person from each society, and on
similar nomination one each from the whole body of Woman's
Boards of Foreign Missions and from the Woman's Home
IVIissionary Federation; who, together with the Secretary
of the National Council ex officio, shall constitute a Com-
mission on Missions.

2. Members. The members of the Commission on Mis-
sions, shall be divided as nearly as possible into two equal
sections in such manner that the term of each section shall be
ultimately four years and the term of one section shall expire
at each biennial meeting of the Council. In these choices
due consideration shall be given to convenience of meeting,
as well as to the geographical representation of the churches.
No member except the Secretary of the National Council,
whether nominated by the Standing Committee on Nomina-
tions of the National Council or by the societies, who has served
on said Com^mission for two full successive terms of four years
each, shall be eligible for reelection until after two years shall
have passed. Unpaid officers of any of the missionary socie-
ties of the churches shall be ehgible to this Commission, but no
paid officer or employee of a missionary society shall be
eligible. The Commission shall choose its own chairman.

26 CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS [1917

and have power to fill any vacancy in its own number until
the next stated meeting of the Council.

3. Duties. While the Commission on Missions shall not
be charged with the details of the administration of the
several missionary societies, it shall be its duty to consider
the work of the home and foreign societies above named, to
prevent duplication of missionary activities, to effect all pos-
sible economies in administration, and to seek to correlate
the work of the several societies so as to secure the maxi-
mum of efficiency with the minimum of expense. It shall
have the right to examine the annual budgets of the several
societies and have access to their books and records. It may
freely give its advice to the said societies regarding problems
involved in their work, and it shall make recommendations
to the several societies when, in its judgment, their work can
be made more efficient or economical. It shall make report
of its action to the National Council at each stated meeting
of that body, and present to said Council such recommenda-
tions as it may deem wise for the furtherance of the efficiency
and economical administration of the several societies. In
view of the evident conviction of a large portion of the churches
that the multiplicity of the Congregational Home Societies
is not consistent with the greatest economy and efficiency,
the Commission on Missions shall examine present conditions
and shall recommend to the National Council such simplifica-
tion or consolidation as shall seem expedient.

4. Expenses. The members of the Commission on Mis-
sions shall serve without salary. The necessary expenses of
the Commission shall be paid from the treasury of the Na-
tional Council, and said Council may limit the amount of
expense which may be incurred in any year. All bills for
payment shall be certified by the chairman of the Commission.

XII. — The Corporation for the National Council

1. The corporate members of the corporation shall consist
of fifteen persons, elected by the Council at stated meet-
ings, and of the Moderator and Secretary associated ex offi-
ciis with them.

2. The terms for which corporate members are elected
shall be six years.

1917] CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 27

3. The corporate members elected at the meeting of 1910
are divided into two classes of eight and seven respectively.
The successors of the class of eight shall be chosen at the
meeting of 1913 and of the class of seven at the meeting of
1915. Those so elected shall hold office until their successors
are duly elected.

4. The corporation shall have a treasurer. He shall ad-
minister his office as the by-laws of the corporation may
provide.

5. The corporation shall receive and hold all property,
real and personal, of the Council, and all property, real
and personal, which may be conveyed to it in trust, or other-
wise, for the benefit of Congregational churches or of any
Congregational church; and acting for the Council be-
tween the meetings of the Council in all business matters
not otherwise delegated or reserved, shall do such acts and
discharge such trusts as properly belong to such a corpora-
tion and are in conformity to the constitution, rules, and
instructions ofthe Council.

6. The corporation may adopt for its government and the
management of its affairs standing by-laws and rules not
inconsistent with its charter nor with the constitution, by-
laws, and rules of the Council.

7. The corporation shall make such reports to the Coun-
cil as the Council may require.

XIII. — Devotional and Other Services

1. In the sessions of the National Council, half an hour
every morning shall be given to devotional services, and the
daily sessions shall be opened with prayer and closed with
prayer or singing. The evening sessions shall ordinarily be
given to meetings of a specially religious rather than of a
business character.

2. The Council will seek to promote in its sessions a dis-
tinctly spiritual uplift, and to this end will arrange programs
for the presentation of messages for the general public at-
tending such gatherings. But the first concern of the Coun-
cil shall be the transaction of the business of the denomination
so far as that shall be intrusted to it by the churches; and
the Council will meet in separate or executive session during

28 CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS [1917

the delivery of addresses whenever the necessity of the business
of the Council may appear to require it.

XIV. — Time Limitation

No person shall occupy more than half an hour in reading
any paper or report, and no speaker upon any motion or
resolution, or upon any paper read, shall occupy more than
ten minutes, without the unanimous consent of the Council.

In case of discussion approaching the time limit set for it,
the Moderator may announce the limitation of speeches to
less than ten minutes, subject to the approval of the Council.

XV. ^ — The Printing of Reports
Such reports from commissions and statemients from socie-
ties or theological seminaries as may be furnished to the
Secretary seasonably in advance of the meeting may be
printed at the discretion of the Executive Committee, and
sent to the members elect, together with the program pre-
pared. Not more than ten minutes shall be given to the
presentation of suciy such report.

XVI. — The Publication of Statistics
The Council will continue to make an annual compilation
of statistics of the churches, and a list of such ministers as
are reported by the several state organizations. The Sec-
retary is directed to present at each stated meeting com-
prehensive and comparative summaries for the two years
preceding.

XVII. — Fellowship with Other Bodies
The Council, as occasion may arise, will hold communica-
tion with the general Congregational bodies of other lands,
and with the general ecclesiastical organizations of other
churches of evangehcal faith in our own land, by delegates
appointed by the Council or by the Executive Committee.

XVIII. — Temporary Substitution
A duly enrolled delegate may deputize any alternate duly
appointed by the body appointing the delegate to act for
him at any session of the Council by special designation ap-
plicable to the session in question.

1917] CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 29

XIX. — Election of Non-Residents
While removal from the bounds of the appointing body
causes forfeiture of membership in the Council, this fact shall
not be construed as forbidding the election of non-residents
by any appointing body.

XX. — Filling Vacancies
Each appointing body may, at its discretion, designate the
method of filling vacancies in its delegation. Unless other
method has been adopted, the Council will recognize such
substitutes from Conference or Association as may be desig-
nated by the remaining delegates from such Conference or
Association or (in the absence of such designation) by the
total delegation from within the bounds of the state concerned,
these substitutes to be certified to the Credentials Com-
paittee by certificate of a chairman chosen by such delegates.

XXI. — Term of Substitutes
Persons designated to fill vacancies under By-Law 20 shall
continue in office only for the meeting of the Council for which
the designation is made.

XXII. — Alternates
Any alternate, specifically designated by an appointing
body, who may be present and seated at any Council meeting
in the absence of his principal, becomes the regular delegate
of that body, displacing the principal first appointed.

XXIII. — Printed Ballots
Nominations for the Executive Committee of the Council,
the Boards of Directors of the several societies and all
elective officers shall be presented on printed ballots provid-
ing space for other nominations to be distributed to and
cast by the members voting. A motion to instruct the
casting of a single vote for any nominee shall be in order
only upon the setting aside of this rule. Pending the
declaration of the result of a ballot the order of the day
may proceed.

MINUTES

The seventeenth meeting of the National Council of the
Congregational Churches of the United States convened in
the First Congregational Church, Columbus, Ohio, at 2
o'clock, Wednesday, October 10, 1917, with the retiring
Moderator, Hon. Henry M, Beardsley, in the chair.

After the singing of " Faith of our Fathers " the Scripture
was read and prayer offered by Rev. Everett E. Lewis of
Connecticut.

Rev. William Horace Day of Connecticut was elected
Moderator, Rev. William E. Barton of lUinois First Assis-
tant Moderator and Rev. Harold M. Kingsley of Alabama
Second Assistant Moderator.

Rev. Byron R. Long of Ohio presented a gavel made of
two-pieces of wood from the buildings of the first two Congrega-
tional Churches in Ohio — Marietta and Austinberg.

On report of the Nominating Committee the following
appointments were made:

Business Committee
Rev. J. E. KiRBYE, Iowa, Chairman.
Rev. Francis J. Van Horn, California.
Hon. J. M. Whitehead, Wisconsin.
Rev. Reuben A. Beard, North Dakota.
Mr. Frank Kimball, Ilhnois.
Mr. H. W. Darling, Kansas.
Rev. S. H. Woodrow, Missouri.
Rev. F. W. Greene, Connecticut.
Rev. Almon J. Dyer, Massachusetts.

Committee on Credentials
Rev. Ernest Bourner Allen, Ohio, Chairman.
Rev. Hubert C. Herring, Massachusetts.
Mr. Theodore M. Bates, Ohio.
Mr. Frederick W. Jenkins, New York.
Rev. James H. Pershing, Oklahoma.
30

1917] MINUTES 31

Committee on Greetings
Hon. H. M. Beardsley, Missouri, Chairman.
Rev. Washington Gladden, Ohio.
Rev. Charles R. Brown, Connecticut.

Officers
Secretary, Rev. Hubert C. Herring, Massachusetts.
Treasurer, Rev. John J. Walker, Massachusetts.
Assistants to Secretary (during the meeting of the Council),

Rev. E. H. Byington, Massachusetts.

Rev. Allen L. Eddy, Ohio.

The Moderator and Assistant Moderators were introduced
and took up the duties of their office.
Prayer was offered by the Moderator.

The Secretary presented an overture from the North
Dakota Conference concerning membership in the National
Council. It was referred to the Business Committee. (P. 41.)
Voted: That the provisional docket contained in
the printed program be approved as indicating the
general order of the Council's business, action in
modification of the same, or in fixing specific hours
for reports or business, to be taken on recommenda-
tion of the Business Committee.

That all speakers presenting reports or conducting
devotional services be requested to observe with ac-
curacy the time hmit fixed by the Program Com-
mittee, or ordered by the Council, and that the
Secretary be instructed to arrange that each one be
notified of the expiration of the period assigned him.
That the door-keepers be directed to close the doors
at 9.05 each morning and admit no one thereafter
until the end of the devotional period.

That all persons entitled to be seated in the portion
of the house reserved for delegates be requested to
assist the door-keepers in the discharge of their duties
by wearing in plain view the badges provided.
A resolution from the Nebraska Conference concerning
young people's work was read and referred to the Business
Committee. (P. 55.)

32 MINUTES [1917

In the absence of the Treasurer, his report was presented by
Rev. Oscar E. Harris. This report, with its auditing, was
referred to the Business Committee (P. 134.)

In the absence of Rev. W. D. MacKenzie, the Secretary
presented the report of the Committee on the International
Council, which was referred to the Business Committee.
(P. 38.) •

Rev. Charles P. Marshall, pastor of the church in
Plymouth, Mass., addressed the Council, asking that the
Tercentenary Meeting of the International Council be held
there.

Report of Commission on Temperance was presented by
Rev. Clarence A. Vincent and referred to the Business Com-
mittee. (P. 239.)

Report of Commission on Pubhc Worship was presented
by Rev. Charles H. Richards and referred to the Business
Committee. (P. 253.)

Rev. H. A. Atkinson presented resolutions on the war from
the Executive Committee and Social Service Commission.
These were referred to the Business Committee with the re-
quest that due notice be given of the time for their considera-
tion by the Council. (P. 41.)

After singing by the Fisk Quartet, Rev. Charles W. Mer-
riam of Michigan made an address, " In Camp with the
Y. M. C. A."

Notice was given by the Commission on Missions of a
hearing on the annuity plan at the close of the session.

Thursday, October 11.

Devotional service at 9.00 a.m. was conducted by Rev.
W. H. Spence of Illinois.

The Council was called to order by the Moderator at 9.30.
The minutes were read and approved.

The report of the Executive Committee was presented by
Rev. Charles F. Carter of Connecticut. (P. 92.)

Recommendations of the Executive Committee were
adopted as follows:

1. That the churches be asked through their state
organizations to pay for the support of the work of

1917] MINUTES 33

the National Council four cents per capita annually,
during the coming biennium, based on the gross
membership.

2. That the churches which in the past have failed
to bear their share in providing for the needs of the
Council's treasury be urged to give the matter early
and diligent attention, in recognition not only of the
claims of fellowship but of the definite and costly
services which the Council renders alike to all its
constituency.

3. That the Minutes of the Council be sent without
charge to all delegates, national and state denomina-<
tional representatives and to those pastors who before
November 15, 1917, request the same.

4. That the Commissions of the Council for the
coming biennium, other than those required by the
Constitution, be as follows: Evangehsm; Rehgious
and Moral Education; Social Service; Temperance;
Comity, Federation and Unity; Organization; Na-
tional Service.

5. That each of these Commissions consist of seven
persons except the last named, which shall be twenty-
five in number.

6. That the majority of the members of any given
Commission be within easy reach of some important
center of Congregationalism, these centers being
scattered over the nation so that the service of persons
in all parts of our fellowship may be utiHzed.

7. That each Commission be requested to hold an
extended and carefully planned meeting within three
months of its appointment.

8. That the Executive Committee be instructed so
far as resources permit to provide for the expenses
of those in attendance at the meetings of the com-
missions.

9. That at the first meeting of the Commission a
sub-committee, consisting of the Chairman and such
other members as may seem desirable, be designated
to act for the Commission wherever practicable, to
submit plans and proposals from time to time by mail

34 MINUTES [1917

and to call a meeting of the full Commission when
important matters shall demand it.

10. That the Executive Committee, while assigned
no authority over the Commissions above named, be
instructed to aid them in developing and coordinating
their work as it may be able.

11. That in discharge of the duty just named the
Executive Committee, at some date not more than
four months before each Council Meeting, if it proves
feasible, shall invite the Chairmen of all Commissions
to meet with it for discussion of the reports to be
presented at the coming Council, to the end that each
portion of the total field may have the benefit of the
thought and effort of those at work in other portions.

12. That inasmuch as the Constitution provides
for the payment of the expenses of the Commission
on Missions, that body be requested to submit to the
Executive Committee, before the close of each calen-
dar year, an estimate of its needs for the year ahead.

13. That the Executive Committee be instructed
to submit to the State Conferences a detailed plan in
general harmony with the terms of its report for the
jestablishment of a national system of Pastoral Supply
Bureaus, and to ask their advice concerning such
plan.

Secretary Herring presented resolutions with reference to
the work of the National Service Commission. After discus-
sion they were referred back to the Executive Committee.
(P. 47.)

Voted: That the question of the advisability of the
appointment of a Commission on International
Christian relations, charged with the duty of express-
ing our fellowship with the English Congregational
Churches in the present crisis, be referred to the
Executive Committee for consideration and report.

The Executive Committee presented a recommendation
concerning printed ballots. The question was referred back
to the Executive Committee. (P. 45.)

1917] MINUTES 35

The subject of paj^ment of expenses of delegates was re-
ferred back to the Executive Committee with request that
they present a feasible plan for the same. (P. 52.)

The following memorial on church union was presented
from the Michigan Conference and was referred to the Busi-
ness Committee:

Memorial Genesee Association

Believing that it is both desirable and possible to form a
united Church made up of denominations already dominated
by the democratic spirit, the Genesee Association of Congre-
gational Churches and Ministers in session in Owosso, Michi-
gan, April 25, 1917, desires to go on record as follows:

First, We heartily commend the action 'of the
Commissions on Christian Unit}' of the Congrega-
tional and Disciple Churches looking toward the
organic union of these two denominations.

Second, We request the Commission on Christian
Unity of the Congregational Church to reopen union
negotiations with the Methodist Protestant and
United Brethren churches.

Third, and we further request that the said Com-
mission invite the Baptist denomination to join with
these four denominations in working out and putting
into effect a mutually satisfactory plan of Union.

Resolved

First, That this statement be presented to the next
meeting of the Conference of Michigan Congrega-
tional Churches for its consideration and endorse-
ment.

Second, That in case this meets the approval of
the State Conference of Congregational Churches,
that body be requested to forward the same to the
next meeting of the National Council of Congrega-
tional Churches.

George Benford,
Registrar.

36 MINUTES [1917

The annual meeting of the Board of Ministerial Relief and
the Annuity Fund was held at 11.00 a.m. with the Moderator
of the Council in the chair.

The treasurer's biennial report of the Board of Ministerial
Relief and the treasurer's report of the Annuity Fund for
three years and eight months from December 1, 1913, to July
31, 1917, with the auditor's certificate were presented by
Dr. Lucien C. Warner of New York. These were accepted
and ordered placed on file.

The Secretary's report for the Board of Ministerial Relief
was given by Rev. Wilham A. Rice of New York. (P. 358.)

Prayer was offered by the first Assistant Moderator, Rev.
William E. Barton.

The Secretary's-report for the Annuity Fund was presented
by Rev. Wilham A. Rice. (P. 361 .)

On recommendation of the Nominating Committee, the
following were elected to membership on the Board of Minis-
terial ReUef :

For six years. Rev. Henry A. Stimson, New
Hampshire; Rev. Hubert C. Herring, Massachu-
setts; Rev. Frank J. Goodwin, Connecticut; Mr.
George N. Whittlesey, New York; Mr. WiUiam
Grant Smith, Ohio.

On recommendation of the Nominating Committee, the
following were approved as residents of New Jersey from
whom members of the Board for the Annuity Fund for Con-
gregational Ministers may be chosen :

Rev. George P. Eastman, Mr. C. W. Anderson,
Mr. F. B. Lovejoy, Mr. A. W. Mason, Rev. T. Aird
Moffat, Rev. Joseph H. Robinson.

Friday, October 12.

The devotional service at 9.00 a.m. was led by Rev. W. H.
Spence of Illinois.

At 9.30 the business session was called to order with the
Moderator in the chair. The minutes of the preceding day
were read and approved.

1917] MINUTES 37

On recommendation of the Business Committee the follow-
ing recommendations in connection with the report of the
Commission on Temperance were adopted :

The Council recommends that everything possible
be done to assist in the fight for national prohibition,
which is the next great objective of the moral forces,
and that to make the work effective the Temperance
Commission choose some one (preferably its chair-
man) for two years who will get at once into the
campaign in cooperation with other organizations
to win a two-thirds vote in the House of Representa-
tives at its next session for the submission of the
Amendment to the states and to take part in the vari-
ous state campaigns for that amendment, and the
Council authorizes the Commission to raise the
necessary funds.

The Council, recognizing the successful work that
other organizations are doing, recommends that the
Congregational Churches give to the Anti-Saloon
League, as the chief leader in the fight for National
Prohibition, its special sympathy and support.

Ill

The Council, feeling profoundly the need as a war
measure of conserving all the resources of the United
States that the people may be properl}^ fed and nour-
ished and that the success of its righteous war may be
insured, appeals to the President most respectfully
and urgently, into whose hand the authority has
been given, to forbid during the period of the war the
use of all food values in the manufacture of all alco-
holic liquors, including beer and wine to be used as a
beverage, and to forbid the sale and importation of
such Hquors.

On recommendation of the Business Committee it was
Voted: That the report of the Council Treasurer be
adopted. (P. 134.)

38 MINUTES [1917

On recommendation of the Business Committee, tlie
Council adopted the suggestions and recommendation of the
Committee on the International Council as follows:

Your Committee outlined in its report of 19'15 a
plan for a meeting of the International Congrega-
tional Council in 1920. The recommendations
then made are resubmitted and the- request made
that discretion be given the Committee to carry out
the plan in case the war ends soon enough to make
the Council a possibility. Until peace is declared
further preparations of any sort are plainly im-
possible.

The Committee would suggest that in case it proves
necessary to abandon the International Council
Meeting, the Executive Committee of the National
Council be asked to submit plans to the 1919 meet-
ing for a suitable observance of the Tercentenary in
1920 on the part of American Congregationalists.

The Committee earnestly hopes that plans now
before the legislature of Massachusetts for local
improvements at Plymouth, including the building
of an auditorium, may be carried out, and asks for
authority on the Council's behalf to express this hope
at the proper time to the body named.

That all churches and individuals in our fellow-
ship be urged to make the Tercentenary period the
occasion for renewed effort to preserve historic
records, buildings, manuscripts, etc., bearing upon
Congregational history.

That the Committee be instructed to confer and
cooperate with the Church of the Pilgrimage, Plym-
outh, Mass., as to any matters bearing upon its
interests and upon the coming celebration.

Voted: That an abstract of the report of this com-
mittee, found on pages 369-371 of the records of the
1915 Council, be incorporated in these recommenda-
tions. ' The abstract follows:

1917] MINUTES 39

The Plan Proposed

" In the ordinary course the next meeting of the
International Congregational Council would be held
in the United States, and in the year 1918. A fore-
cast of the meetings of the National Council of
Congregational Churches in the United States shows
that it would be very difficult for the churches of
that country to entertain the International Council
in any year prior to 1920, which is the Tercentenary
of the arrival of the Pilgrims. It is suggested that
the Council should take advantage of that celebra-
tion, and that its meetings should be related to those
which will be held in celebration of the Tercentenary.

"It is suggested that the session of the Council
last nine days, the first part being given to historical
subjects connected with the earliest settlements and
the later developments of hfe in the New England
states, and the place of Congregationalism in the
history of this country. This review would occupy,
say, from Wednesday to Sunday. From Monday to
Thursday the program might take the ordinary form
of a survey of the place of Congregationalism and
some of the problems which concern it as a de-
nominational movement and as part of the Church of
Christ throughout the world.

" It is proposed for the second part of the program
that the plan adopted at the World Missionary
Conference, Edinburgh, 1910, should be carried
out, and that a certain number of ' Commissions '
should be appointed to consider various large topics
very fully and to present printed reports on these
several topics for exposition and discussion before the
Council. The members of the several Commissions
should be carefully selected, so as to be representa-
tive alike of the various countries which are repre-
sented in the Council, and the various shades of
opinion represented in world-wide Congregationalism.
Each Commission should have its Chairman and
Secretary, and should be responsible for the develop-

40 MINUTES [1917

ment of its own methods of investigation, for the
preparation of its report and for presenting the same
to the CounciL A central Committee should be ap-
pointed to stimulate the work of the Commissions
and to arrange for the uniform printing of their re-
ports. Perhaps this Committee may find it possible
to make suggestions as to the general form which
these reports should take, if such a form can be
devised.

" The evening sessions of the Council would be
addressed in a manner calculated to interest the
public in the topics covered by the reports.

" The following are suggested as subjects which
the Commissions would be appointed to investigate
and to report upon :

1. The history of Congregational Polity, with an
Estimate of the Meaning and Values of Current
Tendencies.

2. The Contribution of Congregationalism to
Modern Missions.

3. Congregationalism in its Relation to the
Evangelistic Spirit and Evangehstic Methods.

4. The Place of Congregationalism in the Move-
ment toward Co-operative and Organic Relationship
between Protestant Churches.

5. The Relation of the Church to Education and
Present-day Congregational Obligations in this
Field.

6. The Peculiar Obligations, Possibilities and
Responsibilities of Congregationalism in Modern
Social Development.

7. The Modern Intellectual Readjustment as
Affecting Congregationalism and as affected by
Congregationalism."

On recommendation of the Business Committee it was

Voted: That the Commission on Public Worship,
whose work is nearly completed, be continued for the
purpose of finishing the revision and improvement of
the Orders of Worship and that the Commission

1917] MINUTES 41

be authorized to print the result for such use by our
pastors and churches as they may wish, and that
when this work is completed the Commission be
relieved from further duty and discharged.

On recommendation of the Business Committee amend-
ments to the Constitution of the Council proposed by the
Congregational Conference of North Dakota were adopted
as follows :

1. That in Section 2, Article III, after the word
" service " in the eighth line, the following words
be inserted — " persons appointed by National
Missionary Boards as corporate members, executive
officials of such boards whose scope of responsibility
is coextensive with the nation."

2. That Section 4, Article III, be repealed.

3. That in Section 5, Article III, for the entire first
paragraph ending " shall be four years," the follow-
ing be substituted: " The term of delegates shall be
four years. . Election to fill vacancies shall be for the
remainder of the unexpired term."

On recommendation of the Business Committee the resolu-
tion from the Genesee Association and Michigan Conference
was referred to the Commission on Comity, Federation and
Unity. (P. 35.)

The following announcement was made by the Business
Committee concerning its report on the resolutions on the
war presented by the Executive Committee and Social Service
Commission :

The Business Committee has given careful con-
sideration to the resolutions submitted by the Execu-
tive Committee and Social Service Commission
concerning the war and our national poKcy, and finds
its own sympathies and judgment in hearty accord
with the spirit and essential content of the resolutions.
We believe, however, that resolutions of this char-
acter adopted by this Council would gain much in
force and effectiveness if they were shortened and if
there were ehminated from them all matters likely to

42 MINUTES [1917

cause divisive discussion on this floor or criticism
elsewhere on the possible score of our having under-
taken to outhne in too great detail the policy of our
nation during and subsequent to the war. It w^ould
seem to the Business Committee that this Council
ought to confine its oflftcial utterance to a concise and
dignified declaration of its confidence in the right-
eousness of our cause ; of its support of the policy of
our Government particularly as defined in the reply
of President Wilson to the Pope; and of the impor-
tance of safeguarding and conserving the moral and
spiritual resources of our men at the front and of
our nation as a whole. The Business Committee
therefore gives notice that the resolutions will be
reported to the Council at the business session Mon-
- day morning at 9.30 o'clock and that at that time
the Committee will move the substitution of a briefer
resolution covering the three items as stated above.

On recommendation of the Business Committee the fol-
lowing resolution was adopted:

Whereas, in the affairs of the home, the community and the
church, women have shown their adherence and their devotion
to high ethical standards, and

Whereas, in the deliberations of our Congregational churches
the voice of women has been heard with that of men,

Therefore, Be It Resolved, That v/e, the National Council
of the Congregational Churches of America, reaffirm our belief
in the democratic principles of our denomination and declare
that the revaluation of the world's politics demands an equal
participation of men and women in things temporal as well as
in things spiritual.

On recommendation of the Executive Committee it was

Voted: To repeal the Interpretations on page 355
of the Minutes of the Council of 1913.

Voted: To adopt as By-Laws the following :

1917] MINUTES 43

XIX

While removal from the bounds of the appointing
body causes forfeiture of membership in the Council,
this' fact shall not be construed as forbidding the
election of non-residents by any appointing body.

Each appointing body may, at its discretion,
designate the method of filling vacancies in its delega-
tion. Unless other method has been adopted, the
Council will recognize such substitutes from Con-
ference or Association as may be designated by the
remaining delegates from such Conference or Asso-
ciation or (in the absence of such designation) by the
total delegation from within the bounds of the state
concerned, these substitutes to be certified to the
Credentials Committee b}^ certificate of a Chairman
chosen by such delegates.

XXI

Persons designated to fill vacancies under By-Law
20 shall continue in office only for the meeting of the
Council for which the designation is made.

On recommendation of the Executive Committee, after
reconsideration by them, it was voted to adopt the following
as By-Law:

XXII
Any alternate, specifically designated by an ap-
pointing body, who may be present and seated at any
Council meeting, in the absence of his principal, be-
comes the regular delegate of that body, displacing
the principal first appointed.

On recommendation of the Business Committee, the fol-
lowing greeting was sent to the Ohio Synod of the Presby-
terian Church :

The National Council of the Congregational Churches of
the United States assembled at Columbus, Ohio, October 12,

44 MINUTES [1917

1917, sends greetings to the Ohio Synod of the Presbyterian
Church.

In the midst of the perplexities of this solemn hour in the
world's history, we join with you in prayers and labors to the
end that all men and nations may speedily be brought into
such brotherly relations with each other that strife and war
shall be impossible and men shall dwell together in peace and
prosperity forevermore.

The Executive Committee presented the following recom-
mendations regarding the purchase of The Advance:

The Executive Committee recommends that the
National Council endorse the policy of maintaining
one national weekly religious paper as the organ of
the denomination.

The Committee reports that the value of The
Advance to The Congregationalist has been fixed by a
board of appraisal as $30,000. The Pubhshing So-
ciety, in full accord with the desirability of the union
of the two papers, does not feel, in view of the ex-
ceedingly difficult situation facing the publishing
world, that it ought to assume the full responsibility
of the purchase of The Advance.

In recognition of this readily appreciable attitude
and having in mind the large benefit that should
accrue to our denominational life, the Committee
recommends that the Council direct the Publish-
ing Society to purchase The Advance in accordance
with the terms named by the Board of Appraisal
and that it authorize the Executive Committee to
cooperate with the Publishing Society in completing
the transaction, providing the conditions of sale are
satisfactory to the Executive Committee.

The Committee recommends that the Council,
because of these instructions to the Publishing So-
ciety, considers itself morally bound to do everything
in its power to make the merger successful and to
share with the Publishing Society any added financial
responsibilities that might eventually rest upon the
Publishing Society because of the merger.

1917] MINUTES 45

The Committee recommends that upon the con-
summation of the merger, churches, pastors and asso-
• ciations of churches throughout the country be
requested to make a determined effort to place the
combined papers in every Congregational home as
one of the most vital educative forces that can be
brought to bear upon the Ufe of the family and as a
major factor in our common denominational activi-
ties.

Voted: To consider the recommendations by
sections.

The sections were adopted separately and then the recom-
mendations were adopted as a whole.

On recommendation of the Executive Committee it was

Voted: That all churches be urged to make an
annual and generous contribution to the work of the
American Bible Society, it being understood that in
those states where state Bible societies are actively
working, this resolution is not intended to discrimi-
nate against such societies.

An amendment to the By-Laws proposed at the 1915
meeting of the Council by Rev. John P. Sanderson was
adopted in the following form, to appear as By-Law XXIII:

Nominations for the Executive Committee of the
Council, the Boards of Directors of the several so-
cieties and all elective officers shall be presented on
printed ballots providing space for other nominations
to be distributed to and cast by the members voting.
A motion to instruct the casting of a single vote for
any nominee shall be in order only upon the setting
aside of this rule. Pending the declaration of the
resultof a ballot the order of the day may proceed.

Greetings from Rev. Nehemiah Boynton and the Japanese
Congregational Churches of CaUfornia presented by Dr.
Herring were referred to the Greetings Committee.

A memorial presented by Prof. L. F. Anderson of Walla
Walla, Wash., asking for the substitution of the word " Chris-

46 MINUTES [1917

tian " instead of "Evangelical " in By-Law VII was referred
to the Business Committee.

The report of the Corporation of the National Council
was received and ordered placed on file. (P. 117.)

The following resolutions of the American Council of the
" World Alhance for Promoting International Friendship
Through the Churches " were, after an address by Rev.
Sidney H. Gulick, referred to the Business Committee.

Whereas, Present world conditions call for:

A clearer recognition of the Christian principles of
the brotherhood of men ;
The practice of righteousness and goodwill between nations
as between individuals;

The substitution of judicial processes for war in
the settlement of international disputes; and

The embodiment of these principles in national poli-
cies and laws, not merely as abstract ideals, but as
practical convictions for the development and realiza-
tion of which the Christian churches have special
responsibility;
Therefore, be it

Resolved, That this National Council of Congrega-
tional Churches in the United States welcomes the
invitation of the Commission on International Justice
and Goodwill of the Federal Council of the Churches
of Christ in America to establish a commission to
co-operate with the American Council of the World
Alliance for Promoting International Friendship
through the Churches;

That this body hereby establishes a commission
for this purpose.

That we endorse the invitation of the American
Council of the World Alliance to our congregations
to establish local committees on International Friend-
ship to co-operate with the American Council and
urge them to establish these committees and to intro-
duce in the local groups study courses on Christian
Internationalism.

1917] MINUTES 47

Saturday, October 13

Devotional service at 9.00 a.m., conducted by Rev. W. H.
Spence of Illinois.

At 9.30 meeting called to order with the Moderator in the
chair. Minutes of previous meeting were read and approved.

Resolutions concerning the relations of the Theological
Seminaries to the National Council were presented by Rev.
E. H. Byington and referred to the Business Committee.
(P. 63.)

Voted: That the session on Monday begin at 8.30
with the devotional service and that the address of
•Secretary Herring, omitted from the program Friday,
be given at 9.00 a.m.

Invitations for the next National Council to meet at Los
Angeles were extended by Rev. George F. Kenngott, Rev.
James A. Blaisdell, Rev. Henry H. Kelsey; to meet at Chicago
and Oak Park by Rev. W. E. Barton, Rev. John R. Nichols
and Mr. George A. Dupuy; and to meet at Grand Rapids
by Rev. C. W. Merriam and Rev. John W. Sutherland.

On recommendation of the Business Committee it was

Voted: That in view of the uncertainty of the times
and that there may be no repetition of the disap-
pointment incident to a change of location, the place
of the next meeting be left to the Executive Com-
mittee with power to act.

On recommendation of the Executive Committee it was

Voted: That a National Service Commission of 25
persons be appointed charged with leadership in the
field of the national and international obhgations of
our churches.

That it be directed to give early and diligent at-
tention to the duties arising from the war, especially
reenforcing the work of chaplains and the Y. M. C. A. ;
aiding churches near training camps to meet the de-
mand upon them; cooperating with the government
food administrator; promoting patriotic response
to the nation's needs; serving the welfare of the

48 MINUTES [1917

young men whom we are sending to war ; and furnish-
ing the churches all possible help in their study of the
world problems, in solution of which they must share.
That this Commission be authorized to raise at its
discretion during the coming year a sum not exceed-
ing $100,000 for the purpose of its v/ork to be ex-
pended as it ma}^ determine.

Pres. H. C. -King presented the report of the Commission
on Missions and it was considered by general consent with-
out reference to the Business Committee. (P. 138.)

On recommendation of the Commission on Missions
it was

Voted: That we urge our Congregational fellow-
ship to give itself with unceasing labor and believing
prayer to the endeavor to exalt during this Tercen-
tenary period those fundamental principles upon
which our fathers built and to give them new effect
in the life of the church, the nation and the world.

Voted: That the churches be asked so to organize
their effort during the next three years that they
may give strong emphasis to the fields of Christian
service included in the goals of the Tercentenary
Program with a united endeavor to reach new levels
of achievement in each of them.

Voted: That our Congregational fellowship ad-
dress itself to the task of raising as a Pilgrim Me-
morial Fund the sum of $5,000,000.

Voted: That the securing of this Fund be en-
trusted to a Pilgrim Memorial Fund Commission
of one hundred persons, the same to be chosen on
recommendation of the Nominating Committee, the
Committee being requested to name a group within
the Commission of not more than nine persons as an
Executive Committee of the same.

Voted: That to this Commission be given full
discretion and authority as to methods of procedure
and that our churches and membership be urged
to cooperate with it to the utmost measure of their
power.

1917] MINUTES 49

Voted: That funds secured shall be held intact in
the custody of the Corporation for the National
Council as a perpetual endowment whose proceeds
shall be used to provide annuities, disability and
death benefits for Congregational Ministers under the
control of the Board of Trustees of the Annuity
Fund for Congregational ministers and their de-
pendents.

Voted: That in view of the manifest failure of our
churches to provide adequate support for work
among Negroes as revealed in the report of the
Deputation to the South, the Council urge that
Lincoln Sunday in February, 1918, be everywhere
devoted to consideration of this neglected duty, that
every church which has not made definite and ade-
quate provision for meeting its full 1918 Apportion-
ment to the American Missionary Association be
asked to secure subscriptions on that day sufficient
to make the raising of the total a certainty, arid that
every church which has provided for its Apportion-
ment to the cause named make a special additional
offering if conditions permit.

Rev. C. S. Mills here introduced the following plan for
the expansion of the Annuity Fund recommended by the
Commission on Missions:

The Plan

The continuation of the plan in its present form
until December 31, 1921.

After December 31, 1921, new members shall be
admitted to the Fund only under a revised form of
certificate, providing under separate agreement the
following benefits :

(a) An old age pension,

(6) A benefit available in case of total disability.

. (c) Term insurance benefits, protecting the minis-
ter's dependents, against his untimely death.

While normally all three of these benefits should

50 MINUTES [1917

be arranged for, the minister will be at liberty to
enroll in the Fund on the basis of the first only.

The cost of the above benefits to come normally
from two sources :

(a) The proceeds of the Pilgrim Memorial Fund.

These would be distributed equally among all
members whether they enter under the origi-
nal or revised plan.

(b) The second source of the necessary premiums

contemplated would be annual payments by
the minister and the church he serves. These
payments would need to cover the portion of
the cost not met by (a). It is contemplated
that this should be divided between minister
and church by mutual agreement in the pro-
portion of perhaps one-third to two-thirds and
that churches be urged to regard this as one
of the regular items of their budgets. Failing
such payment by the church it would be neces-
sary for the minister to make the payment
himself or secure it from some other source.

Any funds provided through benevolent contribu-
tions, in addition to the income of the Pilgrim
Memorial Fund, would be applied, as designated, for
increasing the annuity benefits under the present
plan, or for reducing the premium payments under
the expanded plan.

A premium of 6 % of his salary from age 30 on will
be required of each member to provide at age 65 an
annuity equivalent to one-half of the annual salary
received during this period. A proportionate an-
nuity will be available for any one who shall have
been a member for a shorter period. It is estimated
that on the average 2% additional will provide
satisfactory disabihty and death benefits.

For the purposes of this Fund the minimum salary
shall be considered to be $1,000 in order to provide
for a minimum annuity, after payment for the full
term, of $500. Aid in maldng their premium pay-

1917] MINUTES 51

merits to those receiving salaries of less than $1,000
in order that such payments shall reach the stipulated
percentage of $1,000 shall be made a first charge
against the income of the Pilgrim Memorial Fund
after deduction of expense of administration.

The Commission on Missions requests that it be
authorized, in conference with the Board of Minis-
terial Relief and the Trustees of the Annuity Fund,
to work out the details of the expanded plan.

The plan as recommended by the Commission was adopted
unanimously.

Rev. J. T. Stocking announced a gift of $10,000 to the Fund.

Voted: That the Congregational Sunday School
and Publishing Society be requested to take the neces-
sary steps to change its name to the Congregational
Publishing Society, or with the consent of the Com-
mission on Missions, The Pilgrim Press, and that
as soon as this shall be accompHshed the Board of
Directors of the Congregational Home Missionary
Society be requested to organize and incorporate a
society to be known as the Congregational Sunday
School Extension Society, the same to exist for the
purpose and to be controlled in the manner described
in the report of this Commission in 1915.

Voted: That to the Sunday School Extension
Society thus organized there be committed the care of
Sunday School extension work on behalf of the de-
nomination. This Society shall also work in co-
operative relations with the Religious Education
Boards as outlined in the body of the report herewith
submitted. Briefly summarized, this means the
assignment to the educational force of full responsi-
bility of leadership in all that has to do with the
educational methods and evangelistic outreach of the
local Sunday Schools,* while to the extension force is
assigned the planting of mission Sunday Schools and
a continuous effort to carry out the plans of the
educational force along such lines as that force may
select.

52 MINUTES [1917

Voted: That the further consideration of report of
Commission on Missions be made the order of the
day on Monday after the consideration of the war
resolutions.

Report of the Social Service Commission was presented by
Rev. C. R. Brown. (P. 230.)

Rev. H. A. Atkinson addressed the Council and introduced
Rev. Washington Gladden, who spoke on " The Range of
the Social Demand of the Gospel."

Monday, October 15.

The devotional service at 8.30 a.m. was conducted by Rev.
Harry R. Miles of Connecticut.

The business session was called to order at 9.00 a.m., with
the Moderator in the chair. The minutes of Saturday were
read and approved.

On recommendation of the Executive Committee it was
voted to defer action with reference to providing the expenses
of delegates.

On recommendation of the Executive Committee it was

Voted: That the Executive Committee be charged
with the duty of expressing our fellowship with the
EngUsh Congregational churches and that Rev.
Charles M. Sheldon be a special commissioner of the
National Council to convey to the Congregational
Churches of England our profound and deepening
sense of fellowship in the present crisis and that
suitable credentials be given him.

On recommendation of the Business Committee the fol-
lowing resolutions were adopted :

To the President of the United States: •

We, the representatives of the Congregational
Churches, assembled in National Council at Colum-
bus, Ohio, rejoicing in the nation's purpose to seek no
selfish advantage from this horrible war, but demand-

1917] MINUTES 53

ing reparation, so far as that is possible, to the de-
■ fenseless peoples who have been ruthlessly despoiled,
solemnly affirm our unwavering faith in the justice
of the cause for which the nation is contending, and
pledge to the President of the United States, to all
associated with him, to our army and navy, to all our
allies and to all democratic aspiring peoples of every
land, our loyal support that the hard won achieve-
ments of humanity shall not perish from the earth.

To the Churches of Our Faith and Order:

In connection with the support we have pledged to
our President and Government in the present crisis,
dismayed by the disasters that have come through
failure to apply Christian principles and profoundly
impressed with the responsibility of the Church to
affirm the sovereignty of Christ, we summon ourselves
and you, our fellow Christians, to a new champion-
ship of the struggle for just and wholesome social
relations.

We exhort the churches to a thoughtful con-
sideration and dihgent inculcation of the duties
which spring from war conditions, to the exercise of
all possible influence which shall soften antagonisms
of race, creed and class, to that guidance of thought,
which, studying the causes of war, shall lead to
championship of the economic and pohtical princi-
ples that make for peace, to preparation for the com-
ing era of justice, and that teaching which shall lead
us all to view our newly-confronted national and
international obligations with the mind of Christ.

Ill

Our Young Men

We ask all our people to carry upon their hearts

the welfare of our army and navy. For these

young men going out from our homes let ceaseless

prayers arise. Let no pains be spared to provide for

54 MINUTES [1917

their welfare. Let every effort be put forth to
guard them from temptation. Let them be left in no
doubt of the solemn pride which we feel in them,
as, on behalf of the world, they address themselves
to their heroic task.

With our whole heart we would commend the Na-
tional Government for the effort it has made for the
care of our soldiers and sajlors, not only in the inter-
ests of military efficiency, but also of their highest
personal welfare; for the creation and encourage-
ment of other agencies laboring for this end, espe-
cially the Fosdick Commission and the War Council
of the Y. M. C. A., whose ably planned and executed
work we would commend to our churches as their
own best representative in the effort at cooperation
which we are sure they will be eager to put forth.
And on behalf of the Congregational Churches we
would pledge to these agencies our material and
spiritual support.

International Friendship

Recognizing the imperative necessity of a new
world order if Christian civilization is to prevail, we
would labor and pray for the cooperation of all the
forces loyal to Christ that Christian principles may
be in fact embodied in international relations.

To this end we gratefully join with the leaders of
the nations in recognizing the necessity of an Inter-
national Federation to maintain peace and look for-
ward confidently to a world order founded on liberty
and justice to all. With humility accompanied by a
courageous determination we go forth believing that
God's hand is still leading us as it did our fathers
and that the struggle for a world brotherhood will
not be in vain.

On recommendation of the Nominating Committee the
Commission on National Service was appointed. (P. 7.)

1917] MINUTES 55

On recommendation of the Nominating Committee the
Pilgrim Memorial Fund Commission was appointed. (P. 8.)

Voted: That the Executive Committee named for
this Commission be given power to fill vacancies in
its own membership and in the Commission.

Resolutions on young people's work resulting from the
Nebraska conference resolution were presented by Rev. Ernest
Bourner Allen as follows :

One hundred young people and pastors, repre-
senting many sections of the country and various
young people's organizations in our churches, con-
vened under the auspices of the National Council,
October 13, 1917, at Columbus, Ohio, unanimously
adopted the following statement and requested its
presentation to the Council for action :

1. WE BELIEVE that Congregationalists are ready

for a new and positive forward movement in
work for and by their young people, who consti-
tute the greatest hope for working out our de-
nominational duty and destiny.

2. WE APPEAL to the National Council to give

organized young people's work their study,
supervision, encouragement and guidance,
with a view to co-ordinating the entire educa-
tional and training program among young peo-
ple in our churches.

3. WE COMMEND the Christian Endeavor So-

ciety, a noble child of Congregationahsm, as an
available, fruitful and adaptable organization
through which the interests of our young
people, of the denomination and of Christ's
kingdom can be efficiently conserved.

4. WE CALL for such a co-ordination of all of the

young people's organizations and work in our
denomination as shall enable us to present a solid
front in meeting our problems.

5. WE ASK that the task of leading our Congrega-

tional young people into a new era of aggressive

56 MINUTES [1917

activity be committed to such agency of the
Council as it may order, so that the forward
movement may begin at once. We hope for the
early appointment of a Secretary who shall
devote all his time to the work of the young
people's organizations and request that the
young people be given an opportunity to
finance this Secretaryship.

These resolutions were adopted and referred to the Execu-
tive Committee for action.

Voted: To print above resolutions for distribution.

Voted: That Charles H. Baker be Treasurer of the
Commission on National Service.

Voted: That the Education Society be asked to
release Rev. H. A. Atkinson to cooperate with the
Commission in such measure as it may desire and
circumstances permit, a suitable portion of his salary
being assumed by the Commission.

Secretary Herring gave an address, " A Review of the
Denominational Outlook."

A resolution by Mr. Wilham Shaw concerning the sending
of a representative to Japan was referred to the Business
Committee. (P. 6.)

The consideration of the report of the Commission on
Missions was resumed as the order of the day with the First
Assistant Moderator, Rev. W. E. Barton, in the chair.

Voted: That the Apportionment aim for the com-
ing biennium be as heretofore $2,000,000, of which
sum assignment shall be made for the year 1918, to
the various causes in the following proportions :

A. B. C. F. M.

28%

Woman's Boards

15%

C. H. M. S.

23|"

A. M. A.

13|"

C. C. B. S.

8^"

C. E. S.

6h"

c. s. s.

3 "

M. R.

2 "

and for the year 1919 in such proportion as shall
be determined by the Commission on Missions after

1917] MINUTES 57

consultation with the officers of the National So-
cieties and of the State Conferences.

Voted: That the churches be asked to send con-
tributions hitherto made for support of the Congre-
gational Sunday School and Publishing Society of
Boston to the Society to be organized in New York.

Voted: That the Congregational Sunday School
and Publishing Society in conference with the Com-
mission on Missions arrange for using the income of
invested funds and of legacies which may be received
during the biennium in accordance with the desire of
the donor or the nature of the trust for Sunday
School Education or Sunday School Extension, as
the case may be.

Voted: That the Congregational Sunday School
and Publishing Society be requested at its discretion
to apply to the courts for permission to transfer funds
thus held to organizations which will hold the same
and expend the income as demanded by the trust.

Voted: That the Commission on Missions be
instructed in conference with the two organizations
concerned to arrange such financial adjustments
during the biennium as shall duly care for all inter-
ests involved.

Voted: That the American Board and the
Woman's Boards of Missions be advised of the
Council's judgment that the merging of their publi-
cations in the Missionary Herald would be a wise
step.

Voted: That we earnestly remind our fellow
Congregationalists of the duty of maintaining with
vigor during the turmoil of war those undertakings,
missionary, educational and evangehstic, which we
have created and which are solely dependent upon
our support.. To permit the multitude of other
claims to cause neglect of these interests would be
to destroy the building of the past and to throw the
shadow of defeat over long years to come.

58 MINUTES [1917

The report of the Commission on EvangeHsm was pre-
sented by Rev. Ozora S. Davis and accepted. (P. 213.)

Its recommendations were referred to the Business Com-
mittee. (P. 62.)

On recommendation of the Nominating Committee the
following Committees and Commissions were elected:

Commission on Missions (p. 5.)
Commission on Social Service (p. 6.)
Commission on Temperance (p. 6.)
Commission on Evangelism (p. 6.)
Executive Committee (p. 5.)

The report of the Commission on Comity, Federation and
Unity was presented by Prof. Williston Walker. (P. 243.)
The following resolutions were adopted :

Ovei'shadowed by the vast responsibility thrown
upon the Church of God in this day of judgment
of modern civilization, but beheving that one of the
greater works of faith promised by the Lord may be
done in the coming days, we, representatives of the
Congregational Churches of the United States in
National Council assembled, would make the fol-
lowing declaration concerning the obligation of the
church to make Christianity regnant throughout
the world after the war.

Upon the churches as churches there will not be
laid directly the responsibilities of the State in
negotiating the terms of peace, but directly when
the war ends will rest upon the churches of all lands
the supreme obhgation of making civilization so
truly and thoroughly Christian that henceforth only
a minimum of force may be needed to secure a
maximum of peace. Preparedness for this work
should not be delayed. To begin even to do it, when
the end of the war opens the world-wide opportunity,
will require of all the churches united counsels and
far-reaching, strategic use of their allied forces. No
one church, however powerful, is equal to this stu-
pendous task.

In view, therefore, of this test in the near future

1917] MINUTES 59

of the efficiency of organized Christianity for the
sake of the Kingdom of God, we would resolve and
declare :

First: That with our fellow-believers in other
communions, humbling ourselves before God, we ,
would confess and put from us any aloofness, un-
teachableness, or divisive sinfulness, which render
the churches inefficient and would leave them in-
capable of answering as one body the providential
call of the age about to come.

Second: As the people of this country are now
freely and fearlessly putting aside many traditions,
privileges, private interests and personal rights, if
they stand in the way of economic and military
efficiency for the war; so likewise as Congrega-
tionalists, in our hberty of the Spirit, we hold our-
selves in readiness to put behind us whatever in co-
operation with other communions may prevent or
hinder the organizing for utmost efficiency the
religious forces of the United States in the name of
Christ for the world.

Third: We would approve the work already
carried forward by the Federal Council of Churches
for cooperation in Christian work, the success of
which opens the way for further and more intimate
unity. We would likewise approve and support the
commissions and conferences of many churches in
our own and other lands in the endeavor to find or
to make some way out of the divisive differences
among the churches and ministries, which on all
sides are more and more felt to be intolerable. We
would express further our appreciation of the work
and the vision of our own Board of Foreign Missions
in its appeal throughout its world-wide field for a
" United Church for the United Kingdom of God."
We welcome and would respond to the call which
it makes especially to the churches of our own
country for a Holy Alliance " to make the world
safe for democracy." We would place on record our

60 MINUTES [1917

acknowledgment of the heroic fideHty of many of
our missionaries amid scenes of awful tragedy.

Fourth: In order that nothing may be found
lacking on our part, whenever opportunity may
• arise during the coming two years before the next
meeting of the National Council, we do hereby
authorize and enjoin the Executive Committee, our
several Commissions, and particularly the Commis-
sion on Comity, Federation and Unity, so far as in
them Hes, to seek the peace of the churches, and to
do whatsbever they may find occasion to do in order
that the many churches of our own country may
become a Christian power to overcome the world.
We devoutly pray that through the trial, as by fire,
of modern civilization as in the early days of suffer-
ing and triumphal Church, there may prevail among
all the churches the common consciousness of the
one people of God, that henceforth the peace of God
may abide as a reahty on the earth.

The following brethren were introduced as a Fraternal
Delegation from the Disciples Communion:

Rev. H. C. Armstrong, Rev. H. Maxwell Hall,
Rev. J. J. Tisdall. The delegate first named ad-
dressed the Council.

Voted: That the Business Committee be given
authority at its discretion to begin the session on
Tuesday morning at 8.30, notice being given at the
afternoon and evening sessions.

Wednesday, October 17.

The devotional service was conducted by Rev. R. C. Deni-
son of Connecticut at 8.30 a.m.

The business session was called to order at 9.00 a.m., with
the Moderator in the chair.

Minutes of preceding day's meeting read and approved.

On recommendation of the Nominating Committee the
following Committees and Commissions were elected:

1917] MINUTES 61

Commission on Religious and Moral Education (p. 6.)
Commission on Comity, Federation and Unity (p. 6.)
Commission on Organization (p. 7.)
Commission on Pilgrim Memorial Fund — Seven-
teen additional members. (Names included in list,
p. 8.)

Voted: That the Commission on National Ser-
vice be empowered to fill vacancies in its membership.
Voted: That if a vacancy exists or is soon to exist
in the Congregational representation of the Inter-
national Lesson Committee, that the Commission
on Moral and Rehgious Education be authorized to
designate and appoint a representative to fill it.

Voted: That the membership of the Committee
of the Pilgrim Memorial Fund be not necessarily
limited to one hundred.

On recommendation of the Business Committee the
following resolution was adopted:

Whereas: The Kumiai Churches of Japan, our
neighbors across the Pacific Ocean, are a body of
Christians closely akin to us, and

Whereas: We beheve that every means .by
which the inherent good-will of American Christians
may be expressed and every means by which ill-will
and misunderstanding between Japan and the
United States may be averted should be utihzed,
be it

Resolved: That the Nominating Committee of
this National Council be directed to nominate a
delegate who may proceed to Japan during the next
two years and present to the national meeting of
the Kumiai body in Japan the cordial greeting and
good-will of the Congregational people of the United
States.

In the interest of The Congregationalist- Advance, by request,
the Council was addressed by Rev. C. E. White and Rev.
H. A. Bridgman, both of The Congregationalist.

62 MINUTES [1917

On recommendation of the Business Committee and the
Commission on Missions it was

Voted: That all national and state treasurers close
their accounts with the churches on January 10th
of each year unless this day falls on Sunday or
Monday, in which case the closing day shall be the
12th.

Greetings from the Universalist General Conference and
Methodist Protestant Church were referred to the Greetings
Committee.

■Rev. Hugh Pedley and Ptev. J. G. Hindley of the Congre-
gational Union of Canada were elected corresponding mem-
bers.

On recommendation of Business Committee it was

Voted: That the hearty and appreciative thanks
of the Council be expressed to the First Church for
its invitation to meet in this beautiful city; to its
pastor, Rev. Carl S. Patton, for his untiring and
gracious interest; to the seer of twentieth cen-
tury Congregationalism, Rev. Washington Gladden,
whose presence and words are always a benediction;
to the people of these churches and this city, whose
hospitality has been unbounded; to the press for
favors shown; to the Committee of Arrangements;
to Dr. Herring and his helpers, who have planned so
full and rich a program; to all who have cooperated
in ways beyond mention to make this, under God's
gracious guidance, a notable and memorable meeting
of the National Council.

On recommendation of Business Committee recommenda-
tions of Commission on Evangelism were adopted as follows:
Acting in unison with many churches whose
fellowship with us is close and stimulating, the
National Council of the Congregational Churches
expresses its approval of the general features of the
plan proposed by the Commission on Evangelism of
the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in
America for a nation-wide campaign of evangelistic
work, especially endorsing its comprehensive use of

1917] MINUTES 63.

the personal, pastoral, vocational and federated
resources of the churches and lajdng peculiar em-
phasis upon rural evangelism.

Recognizing the necessity of a forward movement
in the evangelistic work of the churches in these
times of paramount spiritual opportunity, the
National Council approves the plans proposed for
such an advance b}^ the Commission on Evangelism
and sanctions immediate procedure to carry them
into effect. The Commission on Evangehsm is
therefore empowered to raise the necessary funds
for the new work and to secure the service of a
Secretary. This enterprise is heartily commended to
churches and individuals for support and the
Council pledges its cooperation with the Commission
in every practical way.

In view of the supreme importance of the spiritual
extension of our churches, the National Council
urges the mobilization of the denomination for its
evangehstic task in accordance with its spirit and
temper by the appointment of vigorous Commissions
on Evangelism in all the state conferences, the in-
crease in the number of state and district evangelists
and the organization of every church to carry out a
specific evangelistic program.

On recommendation of the Business Committee the follow-
ing action was taken :

Whereas, one of the goals of the Tercentenary
Commission is increased leadership for the church in
its varied and world-wide ministry, and

'Whereas, the reports indicate a decrease in the
student body of the seminaries to which our churches
look for leaders, and

Whereas, the National Council views with alarm
an impending situation where the churches will be
compelled to face an unprecedented spiritual oppor-
tunity with seriously depleted leadership unless an
immediate and united effort be made to recruit the
ranks of students preparing for the ministry:

64 MINUTES [1917

Be it resolved that between the National Council
and the theological seminaries enrolled in our Year
Book there should be a more intimate relationship,
a better understanding and a more fruitful coopera-
tion.

Be it further resolved, to this end (a) that each of
these theological seminaries be urged to send a repre-
sentative to the Council, (b) that each of them,
whose organization makes it possible, be requested
to have on its Board of Trustees one member elected
on the nomination of the National Council, (c) that
at each biennial session of the National Council a
portion of time be set apart for the presentation of
the work and problems of these theological semi-
naries, and (d) that the Tercentenary Commission
be asked to secure the cooperation of these theological
seminaries in attaining that goal of the Tercentenary-
Campaign which concerns candidates for the ministry
and missionary work.

The proposed amendment to constitution concerning
membership in the Council of presidents of Missionary So-
cieties was referred to Commission on Organization. (P. 46.
Minutes 1915.)

Voted: To include in the proposed amendment
to constitution concerning membership, presidents
of Theological Seminaries.

Rev. W. W. Scudder, with an introduction by Mr. L. C.
Warner, presented as a supplementary report of the Com-
mission on Missions the "Plans Suggested by Apportionment
Convention." (P. 204.)

Plans were approved.

Voted: That all undesignated collections and
gifts for Ministerial Relief be divided equally be-
tween the Board of Ministerial Relief and Annuity
Fund.

Voted: That the Commission on Missions be
requested to study the present conditions existing
between the City Mission and Church Extension

1917] MINUTES 65

Societies and the Congregational Church Building
Society in matters relating to (1) the crediting on
Apportionment of contributions secured by these
city societies for the purchase of lots and church
buildings; as well as (2) the equitable securing by
mortgage of such investment as each society may
make in individual churches needing assistance.

Printed report of Church Federation approved. (P. 363.)
Report of Commission on Religious and Moral Education

referred to Executive Committee with instructions to print.

(P. 257.)

Report was made on Council registration as follows:

Total Registration 1,077

Accredited Delegates 479

Visitors 598

After address by Dr. Emrich it was

Voted: That this Council send its affectionate
greetings to the 16,000 members of our 250 German
Congregational churches, assuring them of its love
and sympathy and joining with them in the prayer
that God may lift from the earth the scourge of war.

Voted: That the Executive Committee be author-
ized to review and complete records.

Edwin H. Byington,

Scribe.

William Horace Day, Moderator,
Hubert C. Herring, Secretary.

MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL

Rev. HuBEBT C. Herring, Secretary.
Rev. John J. Walker, Treasurer.

DELEGATES

BY conferences AND ASSOCIATIONS

(Numerals in parentheses indicate the number of delegates to
which the electing body is entitled. Superior numerals fol-
lowing names indicate expiration of term. P. 17.)

Alabama
Congregational Association (1), Rev. Clifford L. Miller ^^^^
District Associations:
First (1), Rev. Frank S. Brewer ^^^^
Second (1).
Third (1), Rev. H. M. Kingsley i^^i.

General Congregational Conference (1).
District Associations:

Bear Creek (1), Rev. C. P. Lunsford ^^^i (absent).
Clanton (1), Rev. James M. Graham "^i (absent).
Christiana (1).

Echo (1), Rev. E. W. Butler ^^^i (absent).
Fairhope (1), Rev. Sherman H. Herbert ^^^^
Tallapoosa (1), Rev. Charles T. Rogers ^^ai (absent).
Tallassee (1), Rev. E. Lyman Hood ^^'\
Troy-Rose Hill (1), Rev. George Eaves ^^^^ (absent)

Arizona
Congregational Conference (2), Mr. J. W. Estill "^^
(absent); Rev. Clifford N. Hand ^^^i.

California
Northern, Congregational Conference (2), Rev. W. W.
Ferrieri"^; Rev. H. H. Wikoffi^i^
District Associations:

Bay (4), Rev. John W. Buckham ^^^^ Mrs. Ernest A.

1917] DELEGATES 67

Evans ^^^^; Rev. Kunio Kodaira ^^^i; Rev. Francis J. Van
Horn 1921.

Central (1), Rev. J. J. Kelly ^^^i (absent).

German (1), Rev. Cornelius Richert ^^^ (absent).

Humboldt (1).

Sacramento Valley (1), Rev. J. E. Tedford '^'\

San Joaquin Valley (1), Rev. Manasseh G. Papazian i^".

Santa Clara (1), Rev. Bryant G. Preston ^^^i,

Sonoma (1).

Upper Bay (1), Rev. Arthur B. Roberts ^'^i (absent).

Southern, Congregational Conference (2), Pres. James
A. Blaisdell ^^^i; Mr. Edwin F. Hahn '^'^ (absent).

District Associations:

Kern (1).

Los Angeles (6), Mrs. Fred Betts^^i; Mr. E. P. Clark i^^i;
Mrs. E. P. Clark 1919; Mrs. G. F. DeLany^^'^. Rev. Geo. F.
Kenngott i^is.

San Bernardino (2), Primary delegates not reported (Sub.
Madame Warren F. Day); (Sub. Mrs. T. B. Hicks).

San Diego (2), Rev. Willard B. Thorp '^\

Colorado
Congregational Conference (1), Rev. Edward S. Par-
sons 1919 (absent).
District Associations:

Arkansas Valley (2), Rev. Frank W. Hullinger i92i; Rev.
James A. Jeffers i9i9 (absent).

Denver (4), Rev. R. Allingham i9i9; Rev. F. P. Ensmin-
ger 1921; Mrs. Frank J. Estabrook i9i9; Rev. F. L. Moore i92i.
Eastern (1), Rev. F. J. Estabrook i92i.
German (4), Rev. John Hoelzer i92i.
Northwestern (1), Rev. Edwin F. Wright i92i.
Western (2), Rev. J. S. Hurlburt i9i9; Rev. J. N. Trom-
pen 1921.

Connecticut
General Conference (7), Rev. Charles F. Carter i92i
Rev. Edward M. Chapman i9i9 (Sub. Rev. H. R. Miles)
Rev. Oscar E. Maureri92i; Mr. Epaphroditus Peck i9i9
Mr. Frederick G. Piatt i92i (absent); Mr. John G. Tal
cotti92i; Prof. Williston Walker i9i9.

68 DELEGATES [1917

District Associations:

Central (1), Rev. Henry W. Maier ^^^i.

Fairfield County (5), Mr. John H. Beard ^^^^ (absent); Rev.
William Horace Day^^^^; Dr. Samuel M. Garlicki^i^; Judge
J. H. Light 19^9 (absent) ; Rev. John Stapleton ^^^K

Farmington Vnlley (2), Rev. Spencer E. Evans ^^^^j Hon.
Herbert Knox Smith '^'^ (absent).

Hartford (2), Rev. Thomas M. Hodgdon i^^i; Mr. Arthur L.
Shipman ^^^^ (Sub. Rev. John Brownlee Voorhees).

Hartford East (1), Rev. Charles E. Hesselgrave "^i^

Litchfield Northeast (1), Mr. Elliott B. Bronson ^^^^.

Litchfield Northwest (1), Rev. E. 0. Mead ^^la.

Litchfield South (2), Rev. George H. Johnson ^^^^ (absent);
Rev. J. L. R. Wyckoff ^^^i.

Middlesex (3), Mr. E. S. Coe^^i^. Rev. Frederick W.
Greene ^^'^; Rev. E. E. Lewis ^^^i.

Naugatuck Valley (2), Mr. Darragh DeLancey ^^^^ (absent);
Rev. PhiUp C. Walcott ^^^i.

New Haven East (1), Rev. A. T. Steele '^'K

New Haven West (3), Mr. Everett G. Hill ^^'^; Rev. Roy M.
Houghton 1921; Rev. Watson L. Phillips '^'\

New London (3), Judge Alfred Coit ^^la (absent); Rev.
Edward S. Worcester ''''] Rev. Herbert J. Wyckoff ^^^i.

Tolland (2), Rev. John W. Ballantine ^^^i. Rev. D. E.
Jones 191^ (absent).

Windham (3), Rev. Vernon W. Cooke ^^^i. Mr. H. C.
Lathrop ^921 (absent); Rev. M. R. Plumb ^^^^ (absent).

Florida
General Congregational Conference (1), Mr. Edward ^ P.
Branch ^^^^ (absent).
District Associations:

East Coast (1). '

South Florida (1), Rev. Wilham F. Blackman i^^^ (absent).
Southeast Coast (1), Rev. George B. Spalding i^^i (absent).
West (1), Rev. George B. Waldron ^^^i.

Georgia
Congregational Conference (1), Rev. G. S. Butler ^^^^
(Sub. Mr. L. C. Isenhour).

1917] DELEGATES 69

District Associations:

North (3), Rev. W. H. Hopkins '^i^. Rev. Charles N.
Queen "19; Rev. Alvan F. SherrilP^ia (Sub. Mrs. C. N.
Queen) .

Middle (2), Rev. Joseph W. Blosser ^^^^ (absent); Rev.
Frank E. Jenkins '^^\

South (2), Rev. John F. Blackburn '''^; Rev. A. P. Spil-
lers 1921.

General Congregational Convention (3), Rev. Charles
Wesley Burton ^^^i; Rev. C. Stephen Haynes i^^^; Rev.
H. H. Proctor ^^^i.

District Associations:

Atlanta (1), Rev. James Bond '^21.

Hawaii
Hawaiian Evangelical Association (3), Mr. A. DeWitt

Alexander 1919 (absent); Miss Ruth A. Benedict i9i9
(absent); Rev. J. P. Erdman i9i9 (absent).
District Associations:
Kuai (2).

Maui (4), Rev. R. B. Dodge i9i9 (absent); Mrs. R. B.
Dodge 1919 (absent).
Oahu (2).

Idaho
Conference (4), Rev., Walter H. Ashley i9i9 (absent); Mrs.
Stowell B. Dudley "19 (absent); Rev. Charles E. Ma-
son "21 (absent); Rev. Arthur J. SuUens "^ (absent).

Illinois
Congregational Conference (6), Mr. F. F. Butzow "21 ;
Mr. R. S. Haneyi92i; Rev. James M. Lewis"" (Sub.
Rev. Frank N. White); Rev. William T. McElveen "";
Mr. M. A. Myers ""; Mr. E. H. Scott "^i.
District Associations:

Aurora (2), Prof. J. H. Freeman "21 ; Rev. H. H Pitman "21
(Sub. Rev. AUison R. Heaps).
Bureau (2), Mr. D R. Evans "21 ; Rev. T. E. Nugent "".
Central (1), Rev. Charles A. Bruner "".

70 DELEGATES [1917

Central East (2), Rev. W. B. Milne '^^' ; Dean E. J. Town-
send ^^^^.

Central West (3), Mr. W R. Curran ^^'^ (Sub. Rev. C. W.
Hiatt) ; Rev. Thomas McClelland ^^^i (Sub. Rev. Wm. Merton
Jones) ; Rev. J. C. Myers ^^^i.

Chicago (11), Rev. William E. Barton i^i^; Rev. Ray E.
Butterfield "^» (Sub. Rev. J. Morriston Thomas) ; Mr. M. J.
Carpenter 1^21. jjon. George A. Dupuy^^^i. yij.^ Marquis
Eaton 1921 (Sub. Rev. C. A. Osborne); Rev. John Gardner i^^i;
Mr. George M. Herrick ^^^i; Rev. James A. Jenkins ^^^^ (Sub.
Rev. J. W. F. Davies); Mr. Frank Kimball i»"; Rev. John R.
Nichols 1919; Rev. Wilham H. Spence "^i.

Elgin (3), Rev. J. G. Brooks ^^^i (Sub. Rev. Raymond P.
Swisher); Mr. Nicholas L. Johnson ^^^i. Rev. Frank C.
Neitz 1919.

Fox River (2), Mr. A. W. Hopkins "21; Rev. Carl Stack-
man 1921.

German (1), Rev. Anton Huelster i92i.

Quincy (2), Rev. Frank J. Brown "is; . Mr. L. K. Sey-
mour 1921 (Sub. Rev. John P. Anderson).

Rockford (2), Mr. W. W. Bennett i92i (Sub. Mr. A. B.
Mead) ; Rev. John Gordon i9i9.

Rock R ver (1), Rev. Percy C. Ladd i92i.

Southern (2), Rev. J. P. Galvini92i; Rev. George T. Mc-
Collum 1919

Springfield (2), Rev Frank Fox i92i (Sub. Rev. R. W. Gam-
mon); Rev. Frank Merrithew i92i (Sub. Rev. Harry T. Stock).

Indiana
Congregational Conference (1), Rev. Angelo E. Shat-

tuck 1919.
District Associations:

Central (2), Rev. James G. Fisher i92i; Mrs. George A.
Southall 1921.

Fort Wayne (1), Mr. R.E. Willis i9i9 (absent).
Michigan City (1), Mr. Herbert L. Whitehead i92i.

Iowa
Congregational Conference (4), Rev. B. F. Martin i92i;
Rev. H. F. Milligani92i; Rev. A. R. Rice i92i (Sub.
Rev. J. D. Kuykendall); Mr. Willard B. Whiting i9i9.

1917] DELEGATES 71

District Associations:

Council Bluffs (3), Rev. W. L. Ferris i^is; Rev. F. O.
Spellman i^^i; Rev. N. W Wehrhan ''''.

Davenport (2), Rev. A. G. Graves ^^i^; Rev. H. E.
Earned ^^^i.

Denmapk (3), Rev. Malcolm Dana ^^^i (Sub. Mrs. Naboth
Osborne); Rev. P. Adelstein Johnson ^^^i. Rev. Naboth
Osborne ^^''.

Des Moines (3), Rev. Merle A. Breed i"» (Sub. Rev. H. J.
Wilkins); Rev. J. P. Burhng ^^^i (Sub. Rev. Newton Moore);
Rev. J. Edward Kirbye ^''\

German (1).

Grinnell (3), Rev. V. B. HilP^^^ (absent); Prof. Charles
Noble 1918 (Sub. Rev. A. C. Hacke); Rev. Geo. Williams I'^i
(Sub. Mrs. H. E. Harned).

Mitchell (3), Rev. W. M. Evans i^^i (absent); Rev. 0. S.
Grinnell i^^i; Rev. W. J. Minchin '^^i.

Northeastern (4), Rev! Isaac Cassel i^^^; Hon. Roger
Leavitti92i (absent); Rev. H. E. Parr i^^i (absent); Rev.
Wilham J. Suckow i^^i.

Sioux (5), Rev. J. E. Brereton "^i (Sub. Mrs. Willard
Whiting); Rev. J. E. Holden i^^i; Rev. J. O. Thrush i^i" (Sub.
Mr. Ed. Whiting); Rev. C. E. Tower i^^i (absent); Mrs.
Helen Whiting ^^^\

Webster City (3), Judge W. D. Evans i^^i; Rev. Arthur Met-
calf 1921; Rev. W. G. Ramsay i^i^.

Kansas
Congregational Conference (2), Rev. William E.
Brehm i^i^; Mr. H. H. Welty i^si.

District A ssociations :

Arkansas Valley (2), Rev. Herbert 0. Judd i^i^; Mr. E. R.
Mopes 1921 (absent).

Central (4), Rev. Aaron Brecki^^i; Mr. A. D. Gray i^i^;
Rev. Arthur S. Henderson i^i^; Rev. Charles M. Sheldon i^^i.

Eastern (2), Rev. Lewis Bookwalter i^is; Mr. J. D. Fax-
ton 1921.

Northern (I), Rev. Fred Grey i9i9.

Northwestern (2), Pres. Walter H. Rollins i9i9 (Sub. Miss M.
Alice Isely).

72 DELEGATES [1917

Southern (2), Rev. John E. McClain^^i; Rev. John H. J.
Rice 1921 (Sub. Mr. Charles F. Pettijohn).

Wichita (2), Mr. H. W. Darling ^^^ 9; Rev. Clayton B.
Wells 1921.

Kentucky
State Conference (2), Rev. J. Madison Trosper ^^zi.

Louisiana
Congregational Conference (1), Rev. Alfred Lawless,
Jr. 1919.
District Associations:
Iberia (1), Rev. A. V. Boutte i9i9 (absent).
New Orleans (1), Rev. H. H. Dunn i9i9.
Thibodaux (1), Rev. Leroy Coxon i9i9 (absent).

Congregational Convention (1), Rev. Thomas A.
Edwards i92i.
District Associations:
North (1).
Southwest (1), Rev. Paul Leeds i92i (absent).

Maine
Congregational Conference (2), Mr. George B. Bates i92i;
Rev. C. F. Robinson i9i9.

District Associations:

Aroostook (2), Rev. W. I. Bull i92i (Sub. Mrs. C. A. Moore);
Rev. James C. Gregory i9i9.

Cumberland (3), Rev. Leavitt H. Hallock i92i; Mrs. Leavitt
H. Hallock 1921; Mrs. Ida Vose Woodbury i92i.

Cumberland North (2), Rev. George K. Carter i92i; Mr.
Horace C. Day i9i9 (absent).

Franklin (1), Rev. Willard H. Palmer i92i.

Hancock (2), Rev. Angus M. McDonald i9i9 (absent); Rev.
Henry W. Webb i92i.

Kennebec (2), Rev. Clayton D. Boothby i92i (Sub. Rev.
Ashley D. Leavitt).

Lincoln (2), Col. E. C. Plummer i92i (absent); Rev. Charles
L. Stevens i9i9.

Oxford (1), Rev. W. C. Curtis i9i9 (absent).

Penobscot (2), Rev. E. M. Cousins i92i; Prof. Warren J.
Moulton 1919.

1917] DELEGATES 73

Piscataquis (1), Rev. Charles Harbutt ^^^^.

Somerset (1).

Union (1), Rev. C. N. Davie ^^^^ (absent).

Waldo (1).

Washington (2), Rev. John Bieler ^^^^ (Sub. Rev. C. A.
Moore).

York (2), Rev. J. M. Chambers ^^^^ (absent); Rev. Alex-
ander Sloan 1^21 (absent).

Massachusetts
Congregational Conference (13), Rev. Arthur W. Acker-
man 1921; Rev. Henry Lincoln Bailey i^^^; Mr. U. Waldo
Cutler 1921; Rev. Frederick E. Emrich i^i^; Rev. Daniel
Evans i^ia (Sub. Rev. Asher Anderson) ; Mr. Frederick
Fosdicki92i; Rev. Irving Maurer i92i; Rev. Walter H.
Nugent 1919; Mr. Joseph E. Peirson i9i9 (Sub. Rev.
John F. Dobbs); Rev. H. F. Smith i92i (Sub. Rev.
Howard A. Bridgman) ; Mr. Irwin W. Tapley i9i9 (ab-
sent); Mr. Thomas ' Weston, Jr., i92i; Mr. Charles L.
Ziegler i9i9 (Sub. Rev. Philip S. Moxom).
District Associations:

Andover (3), Rev. A. C. Ferrin i9i9 (absent); Rev. J. L.
Keedy i92i; Mr. WiUiam Shaw i92i.

Barnstable (2), Rev. Frank H. Baker i92i; Mr. S. W. Mc-
CasHn i9i9 (absent).

Berkshire North (2), Rev. Wilham M. Crane i92i; Judge
Charles L. Hibbard i9i9 (Sub. Rev. James E. Gregg).

Berkshire South (2), Rev. W. W. Curtis i9i9; Rev. Dwight
M. Pratt 1921.

Brookfield (2), Rev. Harry L. Brickett i92i (absent); Mr.
A. C. Stoddard i92i (absent).

Essex North (2), Rev. Charles S. Holton i9i9.
Essex South (4), Mr. John Albree i9i9; Rev. Richard H.
Bennett 1919 (absent); Rev. Emery L. Bradford i92i; Rev.
Watson Woodruff i92i (absent).
Franklin (3), Rev. A. P. Pratt i92i.

Hampden (5), Rev. Henry M. Dyckman i9i9; Mr. Charles
A. Gleason i9i9 (Sub. Rev. T. P. Haig) ; Rev. Reuben J. God-
dardi92i; Rev. Henry 0. Hannum i92i; Mr. J. Stuart Kirk-
ham 1921.

74 DELEGATES [1917

Hampshire (2), Rev. George H. BurrilP^^i; Rev. Wendell
Prince Keeler ^^^^.

Hampshire East (2), Mr. Edwin H. Dickinson ^^is (Sub.
Rev. Arthur W. Bailey); Rev. J. G. Nichols ^^^i.

Mendon (1), Rev. Allen E. Cross ^^^\

Middlesex South (2), Mr. Henry H. Austin i^i^; Rev.
Robert M. Grey i^^i.

Middlesex Union (2), Rev. George M. Howe ^^^^ (absent).

Norfolk (4), Rev. J. Stanley Durkee^^iS; Rev. Almon J.
Dyer 1921. Mrs. Rufus P. Keith i^^i (absent); Mr. Herbert B.
Tucker 1921 (absent).

Old Colony (2), Mr. W. C. Parker ^^^i; Rev. F. E. Rams-
delP^i^ (absent).

Pilgrim (1), Rev. Charles P. Marshall ^^^K

Suffolk North (3), Rev. Vincent Ravi Booth i^i^; Rev. M.
Angelo Dougherty 1921 (absent); Mr. Arthur C. Stone ^^^i
(absent).

Suffolk South (3), Mr. J. J. Arakelyan i^^^; Rev. E. H.
Byington ^^is; Rev. Isaac Fleming ^^zi,

Suffolk West (3), Rev. Wilham Ewing ^^^i; Rev. Edward M.
Noyes ^^^i; Rev. A. H. Wheelock i^^i. •

Taunton (2), Rev. Stanley R. Fisher i^^i; Rev. L. B. Good-
rich 1919 (absent).

Woburn (2), Rev. Stephen A. Norton "21; Rev. John 0.
Paisley i9i9.

Worcester Central (3), Rev. Albert S. Hawkes i9i9; Mr.
Alfred H. Knight i9i9; Mr. John A. Sherman i92i (Sub. Rev.
Garabed M. Manavian).

Worcester North (2), Rev. Burton S. Gilman i9i9; Mr. W. P.
Hawley i92i (absent).

Worcester South (2), Rev. Walter H. Commons i9i9; Rev.
Winfred S. Holland "21.

Michigan
Congregational Conference (4), Mr. F. E. Bogart i9i9
(Sub. Rev. Dwight Goddard); Rev. C. B. Emerson i9i9;
Rev. St. Clair Parsons 1921 ; Rev. J. W. Sutherland i^^i.
District Associations:

Cheboygan (2), Mr. A. F. Bridge i9i9; Rev. F. W. Ollis 1921
(absent).

1917] DELEGATES 75

Detroit (2), Mr. Clarence J. Chandler ^^^i; Rev. M. J.
Sweet '"9.

Eastern (2), Rev. Ralph W. PauP^^i (Sub. Miss Mary
Moore); Rev. Wilham S. Steensma ^''^^

Genesee (2), Rev. W. R. Kedzie ''^'; Rev. L. K. Long ^^^K

Gladstone (1), Rev. Frank Jones ^^^^

Grand Rapids (4), Mr. Fred M. Briggs "^^ (absent); Rev.
Charles O. Grieshaber ^^i^ (absent); Rev. Charles W. Mer-
riam i^^i; Mr. Silas M. Wright "^^

Grand Traverse (2), Rev. Demas CochHn "^ij Rev. Truman
F. Gait 1919.

Jackson (2), Rev. 0. Lloyd Morris ^^-^; Rev. Bastian
Smitsi"9 (absent).

Kalamazoo (4), Rev. A. C. Diefenbach ^^la (absent); Rev.
Henry W. Hunt^^ia; Rev. Samuel E. Kelley^^^i; Rev. Wil-
mot E. Stevens ^^si (absent).

Lake Superior (1), Rev. Carlos H. Hanks ^^zi.

Lansing (4), Rev. George L. Cady^^aij p^es. Thomas W.
Nadap92i; Mr. J. W. S. Pierson i^^i (absent); Rev. T. H.
Wilson 1921.

Muskegon (1), Rev. Archibald Hadden "i9.

North Central (1), Rev. Jonathan Turner i92i.

Saginaw (1), Rev. N. S. Bradley '''\

Southern (2), Rev. H. P. Colhn i9i9; Mr. William S. Kim-
ball 1919.

S. S. Marie (1), Mr. W. R. Gilbert i92i (absent).

Minnesota

General Congregational Conference (2), Rev. H. P.
Dewey 1921; Rev. Everett Lesher 1 921.

District Associations:

Central (2), Rev. A. J. Moncal 1921 ; Mr. James A. Norris "i"
(absent).

Duluth (2), Mr. William W. McMillan 1921 ; Rev. Charles N.
Thorp 1921 (absent).

Mankato (2), Mr. A. W. Fagerstrom i9i9; Rev. William E.
Griffith 1921 (absent).

Minneapolis (4), Judge W. W. Bardwell i92i; Rev. George
P. Merrill 1921; Rev. John P. Miller i9i9; Mr. Arthur P.
Stacy 1919.

76 DELEGATES [1917

Minnesota Valley (2), Rev. Squire Heath ^^^^ (absent); Mr.
A. Stone 1921 (absent).

Northern Pacific (4), Mr. Charles R. Andrews ^^^^; Mrs. C.
R. Andrews 1921. ^^y ^^ ^ Dale i^^^; Rev. Theophilus S.
Devitt 1921.

Rainy River (1), Rev. E. L. Heermance i®i^.

St.^ Paul (2), Mr. W. J. Dyer i^is (absent); Rev. James
Robert Smith i^ia.

Southeastern (2), Mr. J. A. Sawyer i^zi; Rev. C. A. Stroup ^^^\

Western (1), Rev. John J. Bayne i92i (absent).

Mississippi
Congregational Conference (2), Pres. W. T. Holmes i^is;
Rev. J. C. Olden i92i.

Missouri
Congregational Conference (1), Hon. Henry M,
Beardsley i^is.
District Associations:
Kansas City (1), Rev. F. G. Smith i92i.
Kidder (1), Rev. Robert Porter "21.

Springfield (2), Rev. James Hyslop 1*21^ Rev. J. P.
O'Brien ^^'K

St. Louis (2), Rev. A. H. Armstrong i^i^; Rev. S. H. Wood-
row 1919,

Montana
Congregational Conference (1), Rev. W. H. North 1921.
District Associations:

Great Falls (1), Rev. Will Arthur Dietrick i9i9 (absent).
Northeastern (1).

Southeastern (2), Rev. W. L. Meinzer i9i9 (absent); Rev.
R. B. Walker 1921 (absent).

Yellowstone (2), Rev. J. L. Cory "21 (absent); Rev. Geo. N.
Edwards 1921.
Western (1).

Nebraska
Congregational Conference (2), Rev. Edwin Booth, Jr.i92i;
Mrs. T. A. Dungan i9i9.
District Associations:

Blue Valley (2), Rev. H. H. Price i9i9; Mr. Charles C.
Smith 1921.

1917] DELEGATES 77

Columbus (1), Rev. T. A. Dungan ^^^\

Elkhorn Valley (3), Mrs. Edwin Booth, Jr. '^'^ (Sub. Rev.
Herbert L. Hinman); Miss Mary Hughes ^^^i. Mj. ^ g
Rising ^^2^ (absent).

Frontier (1), Rev. H. Ellis Lininger '^zi.

German (2), Rev. Moritz E. Eversz ^^^i,

Lincoln (2), Rev. M. A. Bullock ^^^i; Mr. Jas. M. Teegar-
den 1919.

Loup Valley (2).

Northwestern (1), Rev. Walter C. Rundin 1^21 (absent).

Omaha (2), Rev. W. H. Buss i^^i; Rev. G. A. Hulbert i^^i.

Republican Valley (2), Rev. George W. Mitchell i^i^. Rev.
J. L. Reed i^^i (absent).

New Hampshire
General Conference (2), Mr. W. C. Heath i^^i (absent);
Rev. John L. Shively ''^K

District Associations:

Cheshire (2), Mr. Herbert E. Weatherbee i^^i (absent); Rev.
Sumner G. Wood i^ia.

Coos and Essex (1).

Grafton-Orange (2), Rev. Charles F. Atkins i^^i; Mr. L. E.
Clark 1921 (absent).

Hillsboro (3), Rev. Charles S. Haynes i^^i; Rev. Herbert A.
Jump 1919; Rev. Warren L. Noyes i9i9.

Merrimack (4), Rev. Edwin J. Aiken i9i9 (absent); Rev.
Melvin J. Allen 1921 ; Rev. Archibald Black i9i9 (absent);
Rev. George H. Reed i9i9 (absent).

Rockingham (3), Rev. Samuel H. Dana i9i9 (absent); Mr.
Willis E. Lougee 1921 (absent); Rev. Lucius H. Thayer 1921.

Strafford (2), Rev. W. A. Morgan 1921 ; Rev. F. G. Wood-
worth 1921.

Sullivan (1), Rev. Oscar Peterson "i^.

New" Jersey
Congregational Conference (1)^ Rev. Oliver Huckel 19"
(Sub. Rev. Jay T. Stocking).
District Associations:
North (5),. Rev. George P. Eastman i9i9; Rev. H. L.

78 DELEGATES [1917

Everett i"9; Mr. Arthur J. Lockwood ^^^i; Rev. Charles S.
MiUs 1921; Dr. John M. Whiton '^^\

Washington (D. C.) (2), Rev. Edwin M. BHss ^^^^; Mr. Fred
W. Sweney ^^^i.

New Mexico
Congregational Conference (2), Rev. Josiah H. Heald "^^

New York
Congregational Conference (6), Rev. J. Webster
Bailey 1821. R^y^ Henry M. Brown ^^^ (absent); Mr.
WilHam H. Crosby ^^^i (Sub. Rev. W. P. Harmon) ; Mr.
Frederic W. Jenkins ^^'^ (absent); Rev. Lewis T. Reed "^i;
Prof. WiUiam W. Rockwell i^ia.
District Associations:

Black River and St. Lawrence (3), Rev. John B. Davies "^ij
Rev. Charles A. Riley ^^^i (absent) ; Rev. Andrew M. Wight "^^
(absent).

Central (4), Rev. Prescott D. Dodge ^^^i. ^^y Nathan E.
Fuller 1919; Hon. Giles H. Stillwell i^^i; Hon. H. M. Tallet i^i^
(absent).

Essex (1), Rev. Charles W. Grupe i"^ (absent).

Hudson River (2), Rev. Charles S. Hager i^i^; Rev. Mailler
O. Van Keuren i^^i.

New York City (6), Rev. Charles J. Allen i^i^ (Sub. Rev.
John L. Clark); Mr. George W. Bailey i^i^ (absent); Mr.
Warner James i^i^; Capt. Edward W. Peeti^^i; Rev. C. R.
Raymond i^^i; Mr. Edwin G. Warner i^^i. , ,

Oneida, Chanango and Delaware (3), Rev. Wilham C.
Davies 1919; Rev. George R. Foster i9i9; Mr. John 01m-
stead 1919 (Sub. Rev. Norman McKinnon).

Suffolk (1), Rev. Lpuis Harold Johnston "is.

Susquehanna (2), Mr. H. M. Beecher i9i9; Rev. B. Frank
Tobey i92i.

Washington and Rutland (Vt.) Welsh (1), Rev. Thomas J.
Jones 1921 (absent).

Western (6), Rev. George A. Brock i9i9 (absent); Mr. W. P.

Foster 1919 (absent); i9i9 (Sub. Rev. C. Arthur

Lincoln) ; Prof. E. Snell Hall 19" (absent) ; Rev. Raymond B.
Tolbert "iS; Rev. D. J. Torrens "^i.

Welsh (1).

1917] delegates 79

North Carolina
Annual Conference (1), Rev. D. J, Flynn ^^".
District Associations:
Northern (1).

Southern (1), Rev. Perfect R. DeBerry i"^.
Western (1).

Middle North Carolina Association (State) (2), Rev.
W. B. Duttera ''^'; Rev. E. F. Green i"9.

North Dakota
Congregational Conference (1), Rev. R. A. Beard ^^'^.

District Associations:

Fargo (2), Pres. J. W. Hansel '^'^i Rev. E. H. Stickney ^^i'.

German (6).

Grand Forks (2), Rev. W. H. Elf ring ^^i' (absent).

Jamestown (4), Hon. James A. Buchanan ^^^^ (absent); Rev.
Samuel Hitchcock i^^i; Rev. LaRoy A. Lippitt i»"; Rev.
C. H. PhiUips 1921 (absent).

Missouri River (3), Rev. A. M. Asadoorian ^^^^ (absent);
Hon. Lewis F. Crawford ^^^^ (absent) ; Rev. G. N. Kenis-
ton 1919 (absent).

Mouse River (4), Rev. J. H. Batten i^i^; Rev. W. Knighton
Bloom 1919; Mr. E. H. Kenady i92i (absent); Rev. E. S.
Shaw 1921.

Southwestern (1), Rev. J. G. Dickey i9i9.

Wahpeton (1), Rev. George H. Lewis i92i (absent).

Ohio
Congregational Conference (5), Rev. Ernest Bourner
Allen 1919; Mr. Theodore M. Bates i9i9; Rev. Dan F.
Bradley 1919; Mr. Horatio Ford i92i (absent); Rev.
John Lewis Hoyt i92i.
District Associations:

Central (2), Rev. H. H. Russell "21; Mr. Evan Walters i92i.
Central North (3), Dr. Ralph R. Barrett 1*21 ; Rev. Harvey
C. Colburn i9i9; Rev. Orville L. KipHnger 1921.
Central South (1), Rev. Morris O. Evans "21.
Cleveland (4), Rev. W. H. Baker i92i (absent); Mr. Richard
S. Bayhan i9i9; Rev. H. N. Dascomb i9i9; Mrs. M. W. Mills 1921.
Eastern (1), Rev. E. S. Jenkins i9i9.

80 DELEGATES [1917

Grand River (3), Hon. W. S. Harris ^^^i. j^e^ p^^y J. Mc-
CoU "21; Rev. Thomas H. Warner ^^'\

Marietta (1), Mr. William W. Mills ''^K

Medina (3), Rev. W. F. Bohn ^^^^; Rev. Vernon Emery i"^;
Pres. H. C. King i^^i.

Miami (1), Rev. Seeley K. Tompkins ^^^i.

Plymouth Rock (2), Rev. Newton W. Bates ^^^i. R^y^
Robert Baton "i^.

Puritan (3), Rev. Roscoe Graham "^ij Judge E. W.
Stuart 1^21; Rev. Isaac J. Swanson i^i^.

Toledo (2), Rev. Egbert L. Briggs i^^^; Rev. Albert B.
Eby 1921.

Oklahoma -
General Conference (1), Rev. Charles G. Murphy ^^^^

District Associations:

Colored (1).

Eastern (2), Rev. J. E. Pershing ^^''.

Northwest (2), Rev. C. H. Dains ^^^^ (absent); Rev. James A.
McKeeman ^^^i (absent).

Southwest (1), Rev. C. M. Brooke ^^^\

Oregon
Congregational Conference (1), Rev. J. J. Staub ^^^i^

District Associations:

East Willamette (2), Rev. James Elvin ^^^^ (absent); Mr.
A. E. Wheeler ^^^^ (absent).

Mid Columbia (1), Rev. John Lewis Jones ^^^^ (absent).

Portland (2), Rev. Luther R. Dyott '^^^; Rev. Albert C.
Moses 1921.

West Willamette (1), Mr. Charles J. Bushnell ^^^^ (absent).

Pennsylvania
Congregational Conference (2), Rev. WilUam V. Berg i"9
(Sub. Rev. W. H. Medlar); Rev. James G. Clutter-
buck "21 (Sub. Rev. H. L. Pyle).
District Associations:

Northwestern (1), Rev. John T. Nichols"".
Philadelphia (1), Rev. Harry W. Myers, Jr. "^i.
Pittsburg (2), Mr. Thomas Addenbrook ""; Rev. G. Her-
bert Ekins "21.

1917] DELEGATES 81

Welsh Eastern (2), Rev. David Jones ^^i^; Rev. J. Myrrdon
Jones ^'^^

Wyoming (2), Rev. W. R. Pierce ^^i^; Mr. John R.
Thomas ^^^i.

Porto Rico
(No Organization) (2), Rev. Archie G. AxtelP'^^ (absent);
Mrs. Archie G. Axtell 1^21 (absent).

Rhode Island
Congregational Conference (5), Rev. Gideon A. Bur-
gess ^^^i. Prof. Theodore F. CoUier i^is; Rev. Edward
R. Evans 1321 . Rg^^ Howard S. Foxi^i^; Mr. George A.
Jepherson ^^^i.

South Carolina
Congregational Association (1), Rev. Abraham L. De-
Mond 1921. •
District Association:
Piedmont (1), Mrs. Raymond Beaty ^^^^

South Dakota
Congregational Conference (1), Rev. W. H. Thrall ^^^^

District Associations:

Black Hills (3), Rev. David J. Perrin i^i^; Rev. Lauriston
Reynolds 1921 (absent); Rev. Fred Smith ^^^^ (absent).

Central (3), Rev. J. H. Andress i^^^; Rev. N. F. Cole ^^zi
(absent); Mr. P. T. Wick "i^ (absent).

German (4), Rev. E. A. Fath i^^i (absent).

Northern (4), Rev. Harry Evans ^^^^ (absent); Rev. T. E.
Hall 1921 (absent); Mr. A. Loomis i^^i (absent); Rev. Godfrey
Matthews i^^i.

Northwestern (1). Rev. Theodore Jergensen i^si (absent).

South Central (3), Rev. L. E. Camfield i^^i; Rev. E. W.
Lanham 1921.

Yankton (3), Prof. G. H. Durand i92i; Rev. L. W.
Sprague i9i9 (absent); Rev. J. C. Treat 1921.

Tennessee
Conference (white) (1), Rev. W. 0. Berckman 1921.

District Association:

Chattanooga (1), Rev. Charles Haven Myers 1921.
Conference (colored) (2), Rev. W. L. Johnson i9i9.

82 delegates [1917

Texas

Conference (white) (2), Rev. John R. Scotford ^^^^; Rev.
John B. Gonzales 1^21 (Sub. Rev. W. E. Jones).

District Association:

Panhandle (1), Rev. W. H. Hurlbut '''' (Sub. Rev. A. E.
Ricker).

Conference (colored) (2), Rev. E. W. Benjamin ^^^* (absent);
Rev. B. F. White i^" (absent).

Utah

Congregational Association (2), Rev. Peter A. Simp-
kin 1921; Mrs. Lottie J. Thomsen ^^^\

Vermont

Congregational Conference (2), Rev. Chauncey C.
Adams '''^; Rev. Charles C. Merrill i^^.

District Associations:

Addison Co. (1), Rev. Lot M. Isaacs ^^^i (Sub. Rev. R. Bar-
clay Simmons).

Bennington (1), Rev. George S. Mills ^^-^

Caledonia County (2), Rev. W. C. Clark i^i^; Mr. J. E.
Tinker 1821 (absent).

Chittenden County (2), Rev. Samuel H. Barnum^^^^; Rev.
Charles E. Hayward '''\

Franklin and Grand Isle (1), Rev. F. Wilson Day ^^^^ (ab-
sent).

Lamoille (1), Rev. Frank W. Hazen ^^'^ (absent).

Orange (1), Rev. Eraser Metzger ^^^^ (absent).

Orleans (2), Rev. L. A. Edwards ^^^^ (absent).

Rutland (2), Rev. A. H. Bradford ^^^i (absent); Rev. E. P.
Treat ^''^.

Union (1), Rev. Henry L. Ballou i"^

Washington (2), Rev. Stanley F. Blomfield i^^^ (absent);
Rev. James B. Sargent ^^^^

Windham (2), Rev. R. H. Clapp i^^i; Rev. John C. Prince '^^\

Windsor (2), Rev. George E. Ladd ^^^^ (absent); Rev. Bur-
ton A. Lucas ^^^^ (absent).

1917] delegates 83

Washington
Congregational Conference (2), Mrs. James H. Cal-
vert 1921 (absent); Rev. Hugh G. Ross ^^^K

District Associations:

Columbia River (2), Mr. T. F. May ^^^^ (absent).

Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho (9), Rev. J. H.
Baintoni9i9 (absent); Mrs. M. A. Elliott ^^^^ (absent); Rev.
W. C. Gillmore 1919 (absent); Mr. F. W. Isham i^i^ (absent);
Rev. J. W. Skerry i^^i; Rev. Carl Veazie i^^i.

Northwestern (3), Rev. E. E. Flint i^zi (absent); Pres. G.
W. Nash 1921 (absent); Mr. Gomer Thomas i9i9 (absent).

Seattle (3), Rev. Hugh Elmer Brown i9i9 (absent); Rev.
Richard Bushell i92i (absent); Mr. Claude M. Eckhardt i9i9
(Sub. Rev. Sydney Strong).

Tacoma (3), Rev. Frank Dyer i9i9 (absent); Hon. P. M.
Troy 1919 (absent).

Pacific German (2).

Walla Walla (1), Prof. Louis F. Anderson i92i.

Yakima (1), Rev. H. P. James i92i (absent).

Wisconsin
Congregational Association (3), Rev. Homer W.
Carter 1919; Pres. Edward D. Eaton i92i; Rev. A. Lincoln
McClelland i92i.

District Associations:

Beloit (3), Mr. Glenville A. Dowd i9i9; Rev. C. E. Ewing 19";
Rev. Wilfred A. Rowell '''\

Eau Claire (3), Rev. Oscar F. Davis i9i9; Rev. E. W. Serl i92i
(absent); Rev. H. A. Studebaker i9i9.

La Crosse (2), Rev. Harding R. Hogan "is; Rev. Jonathan
G. Smith 1921.

Lemonweir (3), Rev. A. T. Lacey i92i; Rev. R. J. Locke i92i;
Rev. A. 0. Stevens i92i.

Madison (4), Rev. Marvin R. Brandt i9i9; Rev. L. C.
Partch 1921; Rev. Carlos C. RowUson i9i9; Mr. E. N. War-
ner 1921.

Milwaukee (3), Rev. Theo. R. Favillei92i; Mr. E. W.
Frost 1919; Rev. Theo. M. Shipherd i92i.

Northeastern (2), Mr. R. W. E. Dixon i9i9; Rev. 0. L,
Robinson 1921.

84^ DELEGATES [1917

Superior (3), Rev. F. N. Dexter ^^^i; Rev. H. E. Peabody '^^y
Rev. F. T. Rouse 1921.

Welsh (1), Rev. H. A. Miner ^^^i.

Winnebago (3), Mr. G. E. Buchanan i"^; Rev. L. H.
Keller i^is; Rev. S. G. Ruegg ^^^i.

Wyoming
Congregational Conference (1), Rev. W. B. D. Gray ^^^^.
District Associations:
Central (1), Rev. Annette B. Gray ^^^i.
Northern (1), Rev. John H. Andress ^^^^ (absent).
Southern (1).

DELEGATES WHOSE TERMS EXPIRE 1919

(A numeral before a name indicates that in absence of primary a substitute
served whose name may be found by referring to corresponding numeral in list
of substitute delegates, page 91 .)

Adams, Rev. Chauncey C, Burlington,

Vt.
Addenbrook, Mr. Thomas, Pittsburgh,

Pa.
Aiken, Rev. Edwin J., Concord, N. H.
Albree, Mr. John, Swampscott, Mass.
Alexander, Mr. A. DeWitt, New Haven,

Conn.
•Allen, Rev. Charles J., Brooklyn, N. Y.
Allen, Rev. Ernest Bourner, Toledo, Ohio.
Allingham, Rev. R., Denver, Col.
Andress, Rev. J. H., Pierre, S. D.
Andrews, Mr. Charles R., Ada, Minn.
Arakelyan, Mr. J. J., Dorchester. Mass.
Armstrong, Rev. A. H., St. Louis, Mo.
Asadoorian, Rev. A. M., Glen UUen, N. D.
Ashley, Rev. Walter H., Weiser, Idaho.
Austin, Mr. Henry H., Wellesley, Mass.

Bailey, Rev. Henry L., Longmeadow,

Mass.
Baily, Mr. George W., Brooklyn, N. Y.
Bainton, Rev. J. H., Colfax, Wash.
Ballou, Rev. Henry L., Chester, Vt.
Barton, Rev. William E., Oak Park. 111.
Bates, Mr. Theodore M., Cleveland, Ohio.
Batten, Rev. James H., Williston, N. D.
Bayhan, Mr. Richard S., Cleveland, Ohio.
Beard, Mr. John H., Bethel, Conn.
Beard, Rev. R. A., Fargo, N. D.
Beardsley, Hon. Henry M., Kansas City,

Mo.
Beecher, Mr. Henry M., Binghamton,

N. Y.
Benedict, Miss Ruth A., Honolulu,

Hawaii.
Benjamin, Rev. E. W., Paris, Texas.
Bennett, Rev. Richard H., Beverly, Mass.
^Berg, Rev. William V., Philadelphia. Pa.
'Bielcr, Rev. John M., Machias, Maine.
Black, Rev. Archibald, Concord, N. H.
Blackburn, Rev. John F., Atlanta. Ga.
Blackman, Rev. WilUam F., Winter Park,

Fla.
BUss, Rev. Edwin M., Washington, D. C.
Blomfield, Rev. Stanley F., Montpelier,

Vt.
Bloom, Rev. W. Knighton. Minot, N. D.
Blosser, Rev. Joseph W., Atlanta, Ga.
«Bogart. Mr. F. E., Detroit, Mich.
Bohn, Rev. W. F., Oberlin, Ohio.
Bookwalter, Rev. Lewis, Kansas City,

Kan.
'Booth, Jr., Mrs. Edwin, Norfolk, Neb.
Booth, Rev. Vincent R., N. Cambridge,

Mass.
Boutte, Rev. A. V., Cypress, La.
Bradley, Rev. Dan Freeman, Cleveland,

Ohio.
Bradley, Rev. N. S., Saginaw, Mich.
Branch, Mr. Edward P., Melburne, Fla.
Brandt. Rev. Marvin R., Edgerton, Wis.
•Breed, Rev. Merle Amos, Stuart, la.

Brehm, Rev. William E., Topeka, Kan.
Brewer, Rev. Frank S., Talladega, Ala.
Bridge, Mr. A. F., Charlevoix, Mich.
Briggs, Mr. Egbert L., Toledo, Ohio.
Briggs, Mr. Fred M., Grand Rapids, Mich.
Brock, Rev. George A., Lockport, N. Y.
Bronson, Mr. Elliott B., Winchester,

Conn.
Brown, Rev. Frank J., Payson, 111.
Brown, Rev. Henry M., New York City.
Brown, Rev. Hugh Elmer, Seattle, Wash .
Bruner, Rev Charles A., Bloomington, 111.
Buchanan, Mr. G. E., Appleton, Wis.
Buchanan, Hon. James A., Buchanan, N.

D.
Buckham, Rev. John W., Berkeley, Cal.
Bushnell, Mr. Charles J., Forest Grove,

Ore.
'Butler, Rev. G. S., Demorest, Ga.
'Butterfield, Rev. Ray E., Chicago, 111.

Carter, Rev. Homer W., Madison, Wis.
Cassel, Rev. Isaac, Elkader, la.
Chambers, Rev. J. M., Kennebunkport,

Maine.
'Chapman, Rev. Edward M., New London,

Conn.
Clark, Mrs. E. P., Los Angeles, Cal.
Clark, Rev. W. C, Barnct, Vt.
Coe, ^Ir. E. S., Cromwell, Conn.
Coit, Judge Alfred, New London, Conn._
Colburn, Rev. Harvey C, Bellevue, Ohio.
Collier, Prof. Theodore F., Providence,

R. I.
Collin, Rev. H. P., Coldwater, Mich.
Commons, Rev. Walter H., Whitinsville ,

Mass.
Coxon, Rev. Leroy, Schriever, La.
Crawford, Hon. Lewis F., Sentinel Butte,

N. D.
Cross, Rev. Allen E., Milford, Mass.
i»Curran, Mr. W. R., Pekin, 111.
Curtis, Rev. W C, Bethel, Maine.
Curtis, Rev. W. W., West Stockbridge,

Mass.

Dale, Rev. W. W., Mcintosh, Minn.
Dana, Rev. Samuel H., Exeter, N. H.
Darling, Mr. H. W., Wichita, Kan.
Dascomb, Rev. H. N., Cleveland, Ohio.
Davie, Rev. C. N., No. Bridgton, Maine.
Davies, Rev. William C, Walton, N. Y.
Davis, Rev. Oscar F., New Richmond,

Wis.
Day, Rev. F. Wilson, Swanton, Vt.
Day, Mr. Horace C, Auburn, Maine.
Day, Rev. William Horace, Bridgeport,

Conn.
DeBerry, Rev Perfect R., Raleigh, N. C.
DeLancey, Mr. Darragh, Waterbury,

Conn.
DeLany, Mrs. G. F., Los Angeles, Cal.
Dickey, Rev. J. G., Dickinson, N. D.

DELEGATES WHOSE TERMS EXPIRE 1919

[1917

"Dickinson, Mr. Edwin H., North Amherst,

Mass.
Diefenhach, Rev. A. C, Benton Harbor,

Mich.
Dietrick, Rev. Will Arthur, Great Falls,

Mont.
Dixon, Mr. R. W. R., Antigo, Wis.
Dodge, Rev. R. B., Wailuku, Maui,

Hawaii.
Dodge, Mrs. R. B., Wailuku, Maui,

Hawaii.
Dowd, Mr. Glenvillo A.. Beloit, Wis.
Dudley, Mrs. Stowell B., Weiser, Ida.
Dungan, Rev. T. A., Grand Island, Neb.
Dungan, Mrs. T. A., Grand Island, Neb.
Dunn, Rev. H. H., New Orleans, La.
Durkee, Rev. J. Stanley, Brockton, Mass.
Dyckman, Rev. Henry M., Westfield,

Mass.
Dyer, Rev. Frank, Tacoma. Wash.
Dyer, Mr. W. J., St. Paul. Minn.
Dyott, Rev. Luther R., Portland, Ore.

Eastman, Rev. George P., Orange, N. J.

Eaves, Rev. George, Birmingham, Ala.
"Eckhardt, Mr. Claude M., Seattle, Wash.

Edwards, Rev. L. A., Newport, Vt.

Elfring, Rev. W. H., Grand Forks, N. D.

Elliott, Mrs. M. A., Hartford, Conn.

Elvin, Rev. James, Salem, Ore.

Emerson, Rev. Chester B., Detroit, Mich.

Emery, Rev. Vernon. Wellington, Ohio.

Emrich, Rev. Frederick E., Boston, Mass.

Erdman, Rev. J. P., Honolulu. Hawaii.

Estabrook, Mrs. Frank J., Denver, Colo.
"Evans, Rev. Daniel, Cambridge, Mass.

Evans, Mrs. Ernest A., Mill Valley, Cal.

Evans, Rev. Harry, Canova, S. D.

Everett, Rev. H. L., Jersey City, N. J.

Fagerstrom, Mr.A.W.,Worthington,Minn.
Ferrier, Rev. W. W., Berkeley, Cal.
Ferrin, Rev. A. C, Lowell. Mass.
Ferris, Rev. W. L , Shenandoah, Iowa.
Foster, Rev. George R., Greene, N. Y.
Foster, Mr. W. P., Rochester, N. Y.
Fox, Rev. Howard S., E. Providence, R. I.
Frost, Mr. E. W., Milwaukee, Wis.
Fuller, Rev. Nathan E., Syracuse, N. Y.

Gait, Rev. Tjuman F., Old Mission, Mich.
Garlick, Dr. Samuel M., Bridgeport,

Conn.
Gillmore, Rev. W. C., Dayton, Wash.
Oilman, Rev. Burton S., Gardner, Mass.
"Gleason, Mr. Charles A., Springfield,

Mass.
Goodrich, Rev. L. B., Taunton, Mass.
Gordon. Rev. John, Rockford, 111.
Graves, Rev. A. G., Muscatine, Iowa.
Gray, Mr. A. D., Topeka, Kan.
Gray, Rev. W. B. D.. Cheyenne, Wyo.
Green, Rev. E. F.. Star, N. C.
Greene, Rev. Frederick W., Middletown,

Conn.
Gregory, Rev. James C, Presque Isle,

Maine.
Grey, Rev. Fred, Topeka, Kan.
Grieshaber, Rev. Charles O., Grand

Rapids, Mich.
Grupe, Rev. Charles W., Willsboro, N. Y.

Hadden, Rev. Archibald, Muskegon,

Mich. .

Hager, Rev. Charles S., Albany. N. Y.
Hahn, Mr. Edwin F.. Pasadena. Cal.
Hall, Prof. E. Snell, Jamestown, N. Y.
Hansel, Pros. J. W..- Fargo, N. D.
HarVutt, Rev. Charles, Portland, Me.
Hawkes, Rev. Albert S., Worcester, Mass.
H^ynes, Rev. C. Stephen, Athens, Ga.

Hayward, Rev. Charles E., Winooski, Vt.

Hazen, Rev. Frank W., Johnson, Vt.

Heald, Rev. Josiah H., Albuquerque, N.
Mex.

Heath, Rev. Squire. Benson, Minn.

Heermance, Rev. E. L., International
Falls, Minn.

Henderson, Rev. Arthur S.. Topeka, Kan.

Herbert, Rev Sherman H., Thorsby, Ala,
"Hibbard, Judge Charles L., Pittsfield.
Mass.

Hill, Mr. Everett G., Hartford, Conn.

Hill, Rev. V. B., Oilman, la.

Hogan, Rev. Harding R., Sparta, Wis.

Holmes, Pres. W. T., Tougaloo, Miss.

Holton, Rev. Charles S., Newburyport,
Mass.

Hood, Rev. E. Lyman, Atlanta Ga.

Hopkins. Rev. W. H., Atlanta, Ga.
"Huekel, Rev. Oliver, Montclair, N. J.

Hunt, Rev. Henry W., Three Oaks, Mich.

Hurlburt, Rev. J. S., Redvale, Colo.
"Hurlbut, Rev. W. H., Amarillo, Texas.

Isham, Mr. F. W., Spokane, Wash.

James, Mr. Warner, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Jeffers, Rev. James A., Pueblo, Colo.
Jenkins, Rev. E. S., Martins Ferry, Ohio.
Jenkins, Rev. Frank E., Demorest, Ga.
Jenkins, Mr. Frederic W., Binghamton,

N. Y.
'sjenkins. Rev. James A., Chicago, 111.
Johnson, Rev. George H., New Milford,

Conn.
Johnson, Rev. W. L., Lexington, Ky.
Johnston, Rev. Louis Harold, Patchogue,

L. I., N. Y.
Jones, Rev. David, Scranton, Pa.
Jones, Rev. D. E., Ellington, Conn.
Judd, Rev. Hubert O., Garden City, Kan.
Jump, Rev. Herbert A., Manchester, N.H.

Keeler, Rev. Wendell P., Northampton,

Mass.
Keller, Rev. L. H., Madison, Wis.
Keniston, Rev. G. N., Bismarck, N. D.
Kenngott, Rev. George F., Los Angeles,

Cal.
Kimball. Mr. Frank, Chicago, 111.
Kimball. Mr. William S., Clinton, Mich.
Kirbye, Rev. J. Edward, Des Moines, la.
Knight, Mr. Alfred H., Shrewsbury, Mass.

Ladd, Rev. George E., West Woodstock,

Vt. .
Lawless, Jr., Rev. Alfred, New Orleans,

La.
"Lewis, Rev. J. M., Sandwich, 111.
Light, Judge J. H., South Norwalk, Conn.
Lippitt, Rev. LaRoy A., Mayville, N. D.
Long, Rev. L. K., Ovid, Mich.

Marshall, Rev. Charles P., Plymouth,

Mass.
Mav, Mr. T. F., Vancouver. Wash.
McCaslin, Mr. S. W., Wellfleet, Mass.
McCollum, Rev. G. T., Chicago, 111.
McDonald, Rev. Angus M., Bar Harbor,

Maine.
McElveen, Rev. Wm. T., Evanston, 111.
Mead, Rev. E. O., Cornwall, Conn.
Meinzer, Rev. W. L., Glendive, Mont.
Merrill, Rev. Charles C, Burlington, Vt.
Miller, Rev. CUfford L., Talladega, Ala.
Miller, Rev. John P., Wayzata, Minn.
Mitchell, Rev. George W., FrankUn. Neb.
Moulton, Prof. Warren J., Bangor. Maine.
Murphy, Rev. Charles G., Oklahoma,

Okla
Myers, Mr. M. A., Hinsdale, III.

1917]

DELEGATES WHOSE TERMS EXPIRE I0l9

Neitz, Rev. Frank C, St. Charles, 111.
Nichols, Rev. John R., Chicago, 111.
Nichols, Rev. John T., Meadville, Pa.
MNoble. Prof. Charles, Grinnell, la.
Norris, Mr. James A., Sauk Centre, Minn.
Noyes, Rev. Warren L., Nashua, N. H.
Nugent, Rev. T. E., Kewanee, 111.
Nugent, Rev. Walter H., Newburyport,
Mass.

O'Brien, Rev. J. P., Kansas City, Mo.
"Olmstead, Mr. John, Walton, N. Y.
Osborne, Rev. Naboth, Burlington, la.

Paisley, Rev. John O., Melrose Highlands,

Mass.
Parsons, Rev. Edward S., Colorado

Springs, Colo.
Paton, Rev. Robert, Chardon, Ohio.
Peck, Mr. Epaphroditus, Bristol, Conn.
"Peirson, Mr. Joseph E., Pittsfield, Mass.
Perrin, Rev. David J., Rapid City, S. D.
Pershing, Rev. J. E., Oklahoma City,

Okla.
Peterson, Rev. Oscar, Claremont, N. H.
Phillips, Rev. Watson L., Shelton, Conn.
Pierce, Rev. W. R., Plymouth, Pa.
Plumb, Rev. M. R., Windham, Conn.
Price, Rev, H. H., Friend, Neb.
Prince, Rev. John C. Bellows Falls, Vt.

Queen,' Rev. Charles N., Demorest, Ga.

■ Ramsay. Rev. W. G., Eldora, la.

Ramsdell, Rev. F. E., New Bedford, Mass.
Reed, Rev. George H., Concord, N. H.
Robinson, Rev. C. F., Waterville, Maine.
I Rockwell. Prof. William, New York City

"Rollins, Pres. Walter H., Wichita, Kan.
Rowell. Rev. Wilfred A., Beloit, Wis.
Rowlison, Rev. Carlos C, La Crosse,
Wis.

Scotford, Rev. John R., Dallas, Tex.

Shattuck, Rev. Angelo E., Kokomo, Ind.
"Sherrill, Rev. Alvan F., College Park, Ga.
^Shipman, Mr. Arthur L., Hartford, Conn.

Smith, Rev. Fred, Newell, S. D.

Smith, Hon. Herbert K., Farmington,
Conn.

Smith, Rev. James Robert, St. Paul, Minn.
Smits, Rev. Bastian, Jackson, Mich. .
Sprague, Rev. L. W., Worcester, Mass.
Stacy, Mr. Arthur P., Minneapolis, Minn.
Steele, Rev. A. T., Madison, Conn.
Steensma. Rev. William S., St. Clair, Mich
Stevens, Rev. Charles L., Camden, Maine .
Stickney, Rev. E. H., Fargo, N. D.
Studebaker, Rev. H. A., Chicago, 111.
Sullens. Rev. Arthur J., Portland. Ore.
Swanson, Rtv. Isaac J., Ravenna, Ohio.
Sweet, Rev. M. J., Pontiac, Mich.

Tallet, Hon. H. M., De Ruyter, N. Y.
Tapley, Mr. Irwin W., Haverhill, Mass.
Tedford. Rev. J. E., Grass Valley, Cal.
Teegarden, Mr. James M., Weeping

Water, Neb.
Thomas, Mr. Gomer, Bellingham, Wash.
Thomsen, Mrs. Lottie J., Provo, Utah.
Thrall. Rev. W. H., Huron, S. D.
"Thrush, Rev. J. O., Spencer, Iowa.
Tolbert, Rev. Raymond B., Niagara Falls,

N.Y.

Townsend, Dean E. J., Urbana, 111.
Treat, Rev. E. P., Pittsford, Vt.
Troy, Hon. P. M., Olympia, Wash.

Walker, Prof. Williston, New Haven,

Conn.
Warner, Rev. Thomas H., Andover, Ohio.
Wehrhan, Rev. N. W., Tabor, Iowa.
Wheeler, Mr. A. E., Eugene, Oregon.
Whiting, Mrs. Helen, Whiting, Iowa.
Whiting, Mr. Willard B., Whiting, Iowa.
Wick, Mr. P. T., Canova, S. D.
Wight, Rev. A. M., Ogdensburg, N. Y.
Wikoff, Rev. H. H., San Francisco, Cal.
Willis, Mr. R. E., Angola, Ind.
Wood, Rev. Sumner G., Winchester, N. H.
Woodrow, Rev. S. H., St. Louis, Mo.
Worcester, Rev, Edward S., Norwich,

Conn.
Wright, Mr. Silas M., Grand Rapids,

Mich.

"Ziegler, Mr. Charles L., Roxbury, Mass.

DELEGATES WHOSE TERMS EXPIRE 1921

(A numeral before a name indicates that in absence of primary a substitute
served whose name may be found by referring to corresponding numeral in list
of substitute delegates, page 91 .)

Ackerman, Rev. Arthur W., Natick, Mass.
Allen, Rev. Melvin J., Boscawen, N. H.
Anderson, Prof. L. F., Walla Walla, Wash.
Andrews, Mrs. C. R., Ada, Minn.
Atkins, Rev. Charles F.. Orford, N. H.
Axtell, Rev. Archie G., Fajardo, P.R.
Axtell. Mrs. A. G., Fajardo, P. R.

Bailey, Rev. J. Webster, Lockport, N. Y.

Baker, Rev. Frank H., Falmouth, Mass.

Baker, Rev. W. H., Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

Ballantine, Rev. John W., Stafford
Springs, Conn.

Bardwell, Judge W. W., Minneapolis,
Minn.

Barnum, Rev. Samuel H., Jericho Center,
Vt.

Barrett, Dr. Ralph R., Mansfield, Ohio.

Bates, Mr. George B., Calais, Maine.

Bates, Rev. Newton W., Fairport Harbor
Ohio.

Bayne, Rev. John J., Marshall, Minn.

Beaty, Mrs. Raymond, Anderson, S. C.
"Bennett, Mr. W. W., Rockford, 111.

Berckman, Rev. W. O., Williamsburg, Ky.

Betts, Mrs. Fred, Los Angeles, Cal.

Blaisdell, Pres. James A., Claremont, Cal.

Bond, Rev. James, Atlanta, Ga.

Booth, Jr., Rev. Edwin, Norfolk, Neb.
"Boothby, Rev. Clayton D., Augusta, Me.

Bradford, Rev. A. H., Rutland, Vt.

Bradford, Rev. Emery L., Boxford, Mass.

Breck, Rev. Aaron, Topeka, Kans.
'"Brereton, Rev. J. E., Emmetsburg, Iowa.

Brickett, Rev. Harry L., Southbridge,
Mass.

Brooke, Rev. C. M., Perkins, Okla.
''Brooks, Rev. J. G., Wheaton, 111.
"Bull, Rev. W. I., Ashland, Maine.

Bullock, Rev. M. A., Lincoln, Neb.

Burgess, Rev. Gideon A., Providence, R. I.
"Burling, Rev. J. P., Des Moines, la.

Burrill, Rev. George H., Easthampton,
Mass

Burton, Rev. Charles Wesley, Macon, Ga.

Bushell, Rev. Richard, Seattle, Wash.

Buss, Rev. William H., Fremont, Neb.

Butler, Rev. E. W., Thorsby. Ala.

Butzow, Mr. F. F., Loda, 111.

Byington, Rev. Edwin H., West Roxbury,
Mass.

Cady, Rev. George L., Lansing, Mich.
Calvert, Mrs. James H., Seattle, Wash.
Camfield, Rev. L. E., Academy, S. D.
Carpenter, Mr. M. J., La Grange, 111.
Carter, Rev. Charles F., Hartford, Conn.
Carter, Rev. George K., New Gloucester,

Maine
Chandler, Mr. Clarence J., Detroit, Mich.
Clapp, Rev. R. H., Brattleboro, Vt.
Clark. Mr. E. P., Los Angeles, Cal.
Clark, Mr. L. E., Wells River. Vt.

"Clutterbuck, Rev. James G., Kane, Penn.

Cochlin, Rev. Demas, Traverse City,
Mich.

Cole, Rev. N. F., De Smet, S. D.

Cooke, Rev. Vernon W.. Willimantic,
Conn.

Cory, Rev. J. L., Hardin, Mont.

Cousins, Rev. E. M., Brewer, Maine.

Crane, Rev. William M., Richmond, Mass.
35Crosby, Mr. William H., Buffalo, N. Y.

Cutler, Mr. U. Waldo. Worcester, Mass.

Dains, Rev. C. H.. Enid, Okla.
3*Dana, Rev. Malcolm, Ottumwa, la.
Davies, Rev. John B., Brier Hill, N. Y.
DeMond, Rev. Abraham L., Charleston,

S. C.
Devitt, Rev. Theophilus S., Winona,

Minn.
Dewey, Rev. H. P., Minneapolis, Minn,
Dexter, Rev. F. N., Ashland, Wis. I

Dodge, Rev. Prescott D., Syracuse, N. Y.
Dougherty, Rev. M. Angelo, Cambridge,

Mass.
Dupuy, Hon. George A., Chicago, 111.
Durand, Prof. G. H.. Yankton, S. D.
Duttera, Rev. W. B.. Salisbury, N. C.
Dyer, Rev. Almon J.. Sharon. Mass.

Eaton, Pres. Edward D., Beloit, Wis.
"Eaton, Mr. Marquis, Chicago, 111.
Eby, Rev. Albert B., Toledo, Ohio.
Edwards, Rev. George N., Billings, Mont.
Edwards, Rev .Thomas A., Eros, La.
Ekins, Rey. G. Herbert, Pittsburgh, Penn.
Ensminger, Rev. F. P., Lyons, Colo.
Estabrook, Rev. F. J., Denver, Colo.
Estill, Mr. J. W., Tucsin, Ariz.
Evans, Mr. D. R., Depue, 111.
Evans, Rev. Edward R., Pawtucket, R. I.
Evans, Rev. Morris O., Cincinnati, O.
Evans, Rev. Spencer E., Terryville, Conn.
Evans, Judge W. D., Hampton, la.
Evans, Rev. W. M., Clear Lake, la.
Eversz, Rev. Moritz E., Chicago, 111.
Ewing, Rev. William. Newton Center,

Mass.
Ewing, Rev. C. E., Janesville, Wis.

Fath, Rev. E. A.. Redfield, S. D.
Faville, Rev. Theo. R., Kenosha, Wis.
Faxton, Mr. J. D., Lawrence, Kans.
Fisher, Rev. James G., Dunkirk. Ind.
Fisher, Rev. Stanley R., Fall River. Mass.
Fleming, Rev. Isaac, Canton, Mass.
Flint, Rev. E. E., Everett, Wash.
Flynn, Rev. D. J., Charlotte, N. C.
Ford, Mr. Horatio, Cleveland, Ohio.
Fosdick, Mr. Frederick, Fitchburg, Masa.
««Fox, Rev. Frank, Decatur, 111.
Freeman, Prof. J. H.. Aurora, III.

1917]

DELEGATES WHOSE TERMS EXPIRE 1921

Galvin. Rev. J. P., Mounds, 111.
Gardner. Rev. John, Chicago, III.
Gilbert, Mr. W. R., Brimley, Mich.
Goddard, Rev. Reuben J., Springfield,
Mass
"Gonzales, Rev. John B., Dallas, Texas.
Graham, Rev. James M., Thorsby, Ala.
Graham, Rev. Roscoe, Akron, Ohio.
Gray, Rev. Annette B., Cheyenne, Wyo.
Grey, Rev. Robert M., Hopkinton.Mass.
Griffith, Rev William E., Waseca, Minn.
Grinnell, Rev. O. S., Ionia, Iowa.

Hall, Rev. T. E.. Webster. S. D.

Hallock, Rev. Leavitt H., Portland, Me.

Hallock, Mrs. Leavitt H., Portland, Me.

Hand, Rev. Clifford N., Tempe, Ariz.

Haney, Rev. Richard S., Moline, 111.

Hanks, Rev. Carlos H., Laurin, Mich.

Hannum. Rev. Henry O., Holyoke, Mass.

Harned, Rev H E., Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Harris. Hon W. S., Geneva. Ohio.

Hawley. Mr. W. P., Baldwinsville, Mass.

Haynes, Rev Charles S., Reeds Ferry,
N. H

Heath, Mr W. C, Manchester, N. H.

Henick. Mr George M., Chicago, 111.

Hesselgrave, Rev. Chas. E., South Man-
chester, Conn.

Hitchcock, Rev. Samuel, New Rockford,
N. D.

Hodgdon, Rev. Thomas M., West Hart-
ford, Conn.

Hoelzer, Rev. John, Fort Collins, Colo.

Holden. Rev. J. E. , Newell, Iowa.

Holland, Rev.Winfred S., Westboro, Mas.s.

Hopkins, Mr. A. W.. Granville, 111.

Houghton, Rev. Roy M., New Haven,
Conn.

Howe, Rev. George M., Groton, Mass.

Hoyt, Rev. John Lewis, Huntington, W.
Va.

Huelster, Rev. Anton, Barrington, 111.

Hughes, Miss Mary, Brunswick, Neb.

Hulbert, Rev. G. A.. Omaha, Neb.

Hullinger, Rev. Frank W., Colorado City,
Colo.

Hyslop, Rev. James, Lebanon, Mo.

'"Isaacs, Rev. Lot M., Orwell, Vt.

James, Rev. H. P., No. Yakima, Wash.
Jepberson, Mr. G. A., Providence. R. I.
Jergensen, Rev. Theodore, Strool, S. D.
Johnson, Mr Nicholas L , Batavia, 111.
Johnson, Rev. P. Adelstein, Grinnell,

Iowa.
Jones, Rev. Frank, Gladstone, Mich.
Jones, Rev. John Lewis. lone, Oregon.
Jones, Rev. J. Myrddin, Mahanoy City,

Penn.
Jones, Rev. Thomas J , Granville (Wash.

Co.), N. Y.

Kedzie, Rev. William R., St. Johns, Mich.
Keedy, Rev. John L., North Andover,

Mass.
Keith, Mrs. Rufus P., Campello, Mass.
Kelley, Rev. Samuel E., Allegan, Mich.
Kelly, Rev. J. J.. Ripon, Cal.
Kenady, Mr. E. H.. Drake, N. D.
King, Pres. H. C, Oberlin, Ohio.
Kingsley, Rev. H. M., Talladega, Ala.
Kiplinger, Rev. Orville L., Mansfield, O.
Kirkham, Mr. J. Stuart, Springfield, Mass.
Kodaira, Rev. Kunio, San Francisco, Cal.

Lacey, Rev. A, T., Endeavor, Wis.
Ladd, Rev. Percy C, Moline, 111.

Lanham, Rev. E. W., Wessington Springs,

S D.
Lathrop, Mr. H. C, Willimantic, Conn.
Leavitt, Hon. Roger, Cedar Falls, la.
Leeds, Rev. Paul, Kinder. La.
Lesher, Rev. Everett, Minneapolis, Minn.
Lewis. Rev. E. E., Haddam, Conn.
Lewis, Rev. George H., Forman, N. D.
Lininger, Rev. H Ellis, Loomis, Neb.
Locke, Rev. R. J., Grand Rapids, Wis.
Lockwood, Arthur J., Glen Ridge, N, J.
Loomis, Mr. A.. Redfield, S. D.
Lougee, Mr. Willis E., Candia, N. H.
Lucas, Rev. Burton A., Windsor, Vt.
Lu'nsford, Rev. C. P.. Hackleburg, Ala.

Maier, Rev. Henry W., New Britain,

Conn.
Martin, Rev. B. F., Marshalltown, la.
Mason, Rev. Charles E., Mountain Home.

Ida.
Matthews, Rev. Godfrey, Ipswich, S. D.
Maurer, Rev. Irving, Northampton, Mass.
Maurer, Rev. Oscar E., New Haven, Conn.
McClain, Rev. John E., Independence,

Kan<<.
McClelland, Rev. A. Lincoln, Rosendale,

Wis.
•'McClelland, Rev. Thomas, Galesburg, 111.,
McCoU, Rev. Ray J., Ashtabula. O.
McKeeman, Rev. James A., Medford,

Okla.
McMillan, Mr. Wm. W., Duluth. Minn.
Merriam, Rev. Charles W., Grand Rapids,

Mich.
Merrill, Rev. George P., Minneapolis.

Minn.
"Merrithew, Rev. Frank, Springfield, 111.
Metcalf, Rev. Arthur, Webster City, la.
Metzger. Rev. Eraser, Randolph, Vt.
Milligan, Rev. H F., Dubuque, Iowa.
Mills, Rev. Charles S., Montclair, N. J.
Mills, Rev. George S . Bennington. Vt.
Mills, Mrs. N. W., Cleveland. O.
Mills, Mr. William W., Marietta, Ohio.
Milne. Rev. William B., Clifton. 111.
Minchen, Rev. W. J , Mason City, la.
Miner, Rev. H. A., Madi.son, Wis.
Moncal, Rev. A. J., Holdingford. Minn.
Moore, Rev. Frank L., Denver, Colo.
Morgan, Rev. Walter A., Dover, N. H.
Morris, Rev. O. Lloyd, Ypsilanti, Mich.
Mose,^, Rev. Albert C, Portland, Ore.
Moses, Mr. E. R.. Great Bend, Kans.
Myers. Rev. Chas. Haven, Chattanooga,

Tenn.
Myers, Jr., Rev. Harry W.. Philadelphia,

Pa.
Myers. Rev. J. C, Peoria, 111.

Nadal. Pres. Thomas W.. Olivet, Mich.
Nash, Pres. G. W.. Bellingham. Wash.
Nichols, Rev. J. G.. South Hadley, Masa.
North, Rev. W. H.. Billings. Mont.
Norton. Rev. Stephen A.. W^oburn, Mass.
Noyes, Rev. Edward M., Newton Centre,
Mass.

Olden, Rev. J. C, Meridian, Miss.
Ollis, Rev. F. W., Cheboygan. Mich.

Palmer, Rev Willard H., Wilton, Maine.
Papazian. Rev. Manasseh G., Fresno, Cal.
Parker, Mr. W. C, New Bedford, Mass.
Parr, Rev. H. E., Waterloo. Iowa.
Parsons, Rev. St. Clair Greenville, Mich.
Partch, Rev. L. C. Columbus. Wis.
"Paul, Rev. Ralph W , Romeo, Mich.
Peabody. Rev. H. E.. Appleton, Wia.

DELEGATES WHOSE TEEMS EXPIRE 1921

[1917

Peet. M R. C, Capt. Edward W., Fort

Benjamin Harrison, Ind.
Phillips, Rev. C. H., Jamestown, N. D.
Pierson, Mr. J. W. S., Stanton. Mich.
"Pitman. Rev. H. H.. RoUo. 111.
Piatt, Mr. Frederick G., New Britain,

Conn.
Plummer. Col. E. C, Bath, Maine.
Porter, Rev. Robert. St Joseph, Mo.
Pratt. Rev. A. P., Greenfield, Mass.
Pratt, Rev. Dwight M., Housatonic, Mass.
Preston, Rev. Bryant C. Palo Alto, Cal.
Proctor, Rev. H. H., Atlanta, Ga.

Raymond, Rev. C. R., Brooklyn, N. Y.

Read, Rev. J. L., Franklin, Neb.

Reed, Rev. Lewis T., Brooklyn. N. Y.

Reynolds, Rev. Lauriston, Belle Fourche,
S. D.
«Rice, Rev. A. R., Waverly, la.
*'Rice, Rev. John H. J., Emporia, Kans.

Richert. Rev Cornelius, Fresno, Cal.

Riley, Rev. ChaHc.« A., Brier Hill, N. Y.

Rising. Mr. R. S., Ainsworth, Neb.

Roberts. Rev. Arthur B., Antiooh. Cal.

Robinson, Rev. O. L., Madison, Wis.

Rogers, Rev. Charles T., Thorsby, Ala.

Ross, Rev. Hugh G., Seattle, Wash.

Rouse, Rev F. T.. ^Iadison, Wis.

Ruegg, Rev. S. G., Menasha, Wis.

Rundin, Rev. Walter C, Mitchell, Neb.

Russell, Rev. H. H., WesterviUe, Ohio.

Sargent, Rev. James B., Northfield, Vt.

Sawyer, Mr. Joseph A., Owatonna, Minn.

Scott, Mr. E. H., Chicago, 111.

Peri, Rev. E. W. River Falls, Wis.
♦'Seymour, Mr. L. K., Pavson, 111.

Shaw, Rev. E. S . Minot, N. D.,

Shaw. Mr. William, Ballard Vale, Mass.

Sheldon, Rev. Charles M., Topeka, Kans.
♦•Sherman, Mr. John A., Worcester, Mass.

Shipherd, Rev. Theo. M., Milwaukee, Wis.

Shively, Rev. John L., Laconia. N. H.

Simnkin, Rev. Peter A., Salt Lake City,
Utah.

Skerry. Rev. J. W., Trent. Wash.

Sloan Rev. Alexander. York Beach,
Maine.

Smith Mr. Charles C , Exeter. Neb.

Smith Rev. Frank G , Kansas City. Mo.
"Smith Rev H. F., West Medford, Mass.

Smith. Rev Jonathan G., Tomah, Wis.

Southall Mrs. George A., Marion. Ind.

Spalding, Rev. George B., Miami, Fla.

Spelman, Rev. F. O., Atlantic, la.

Spence Rov William H., Hinsdale, 111.

Spillers Rev A P., Albany, Ga

Stackman. Rev. Carl. Ottawa. 111.

Stapleton. Rev. John, South Norwalk,
Conn.

Staub. Rev. J. J., Portland. Ore.

Stevens, Rev. A. O., Beloit, Wis.

Stevens, Rev. Wilmot E., Constantine,
Mich.

Stillwell, Hon. Giles H., Syracu.se, N. Y.
Stoddard, Mr. A. C, North Brookfield,

Ma.'^s.
Stone, Mr. A., Morris, Minn.
Stone, Mr. Arthur C, Chelsea, Mass.
Stroup, Rev. C. A., Owatonna. Minn.
Stuart, .Judge E. W.. Akron, O.
Suckow, Rev. William J., Manchester, la.
Sutherland. Rev. J. W.. Lansing, Mich.
Sweney, Mr. Fred W., Washington, D. C.

Talcott, Mr. John G., Talcottville, Conn.
Thaver, Rev. Lucius H., Portsmouth,

N. H.
Thomas, Mr. John R., Scranton, Penn.
Thorp, Rev. Charies N., Duluth, Minn.
Thorp, Rev. Willard B.. San Diego, Cal.
Tinker, Mr. J E.. Danville. Vt.
Tobey. Rev. B. Frank, Ithaca, N. Y.
Tompkins, Rev. Seeley K., Cincinnati,

Ohio.
Torrens, Rev. D. J.. East Bloomfield, N.Y.
Tower. Rev. C. E., Sioux City. la.
Treat, Rev. J. C, Hudson, S. D.
Trompen, Rev. J. N., .Aurora, Colo.
Trosper. Rev. J. Madison, Evarts, Ky.
Tucker, Mr. Herbert B.. Mattapan. Mass.
Turner, Rev. Jonathan, Cadillac, Mich.

Van Horn, Rev. Francis J., Oakland, Cal.
Van Keuren, Rev. Mailler O., Schenec-
tady, N. Y.
Veazie, Rev. Carl, Wallace, Ida.

Walcott, Rev. Philip C, Naugatuck,

Conn.
Waldron, Rev. George B., Tampa, Fla.
Walker, Rev. R. B., Sidney, Mont.
Walters, Mr. Evan, Columbus, O.
Warner. Mr. Edwin G., Brooklyn, N. Y.
Warner, Mr. Ernest N., Madison, Wis.
Webb, Rev. Henry W., ISucksport, Maine.
Wells, Rev. Clavton B., Wichita. Kans.
Welty. Mr. H. H.. Topeka. Kans.
Weston, Jr., Mr. Thomas, Boston, Mass.
Wetherbee, Mr. Herbert E., West Rindge,

N. H.
Wbp"lock, Rev. Albert H., Needham,

White, liev. B. F.. Corpus Christi, Tex.
Whitehead, Mr. Herbert L., Indianapolis,

Ind.
Whiton, Dr. John M., Plainfield, N. Y.
'"Williams, Rev. George, Newton, la.
Wilson, Rev. Theodore H., Olivet, Mich.
Woodbury. Mrs. Ida Vose, Boston, Mass.
Woodruff, Rev. Watson, Lynn, Mass.
Woodworth, Rev. Frank G., Somersworth,

N. H.
Wright, Rev. Edwin F., Steamboat

Springs. Colo.
Wyckoff, Rev. Herbert J., Norwich, Conn.
Wyckoff. Rev. J. L. R., North Woodbury ,

Conn.

LIST OF SUBSTITUTE DELEGATES FOR
COLUMBUS MEETING, 1917

{Primary delegates for whom substilutes served are indicated by correspond-
ing numerals in alphabetical lists of delegates, pages 85-38.)

"Anderson, Rev. Asher, Randolph, Mass.
"Bailey, Rev. Arthur W., South Hadley,

Mass.
"Bridginan, Rev. Howard A., Boston, Mass.

'Clark, Rev. John L., Brooklyn. N. Y.
isDavies, Rev. J. W. F., Winnetka, 111.

*Dav, Madame Warren F., Los Angeles,

Cal.
"Dobbs, Rev. John F., Maiden, Mass.
'^Gammons, Rev. R. W., Chicago, 111.

<Goddard, Rev. Dwight, Ann Arbor, Mich.
"Gregg, Rev. James E., Pittsfield, Mass.
2»Hacke, Rev. A. C, Grinnell, la.
"Haig, Rev. T. P., Chicopee, Falls. Mass.
»5Harmon, Rev. W. P., Niagara Falls, N. Y.
"•Harned. Mrs. H. E., Cedar Rapids, la.
<<Heaps, Rev. Allison R., Aurora, 111.
'oHiatt, Rev. C. W.. Peoria, 111,

*Hicks. Mrs. T. B., Los Angeles, CaL

'Hinman, Rev. Herbert L., Lincoln, Neb.
"Isely, Miss M. Alice, Wichita. Kans.

'Isenhour, Mr. L. C, Salisbury, N. C.
39Jones. Rev. W. E., Fort Worth, Texas.
*'Jones, Rev. Wm. Merton. Sterling, 111.
**Kuykendall, Rev. J. D., Corning, la.
"Leavitt, Rev. Ashley D.. Portland, Maine.

♦Lincoln, Rev. C. Arthur. Buffalo. N. Y.
*sManavian, Rev. Garabed M., Worcester,
Mass.

"McKinnon, Rev. Norman, Utica. N. Y.
'2Mead. Mr. A. B.. Chicago. 111.
2Medlar. Rev. W. H.. Philadelphia. Pa.

•Miles, Rev. H. R.. New Haven. Conn.

'Moore. Rev. C. A., Bangor, Maine.
'^Moore, Mrs. C. A., Bangur. Maine.
"Moore, Miss Mary, St. Clair, Mich.
»*Moore, Rev. Newton, Muscatine, la.
"Moxon. Rev. Phihp S., Springfield, Mass.
"Osborne, Rev. C. A., Chicago, 111.
360.sborne, Mrs. Naboth. Burlington, la.
*8Pettijohn, Mr. Chas. F., Olathe, Kans.
!"Pyle, Rev. H. L., Philadelphia, Pa.
^•'Queen. Mrs. C. N.. Deniorest, Ga.
I'Ricker. Rev. A. E., Dallas, Texas.
<'Sander.son, Rev. John P., Chicago. 111.
^'Simmons. Rev. R. Barclay. Shoreham, Vt .
«Stock, Rev. Harry T., Chicago 111.
"^Stocking. Rev. Jay T., Upper Montclair,

N.J.
"Strong, Rev. Sydney, Seattle, Wash.
siSwisher, Rev. Raymond P., De Kalb, 111.

'Thomas, Rev. J. Morriston, Chicago, 111.
2'Voorhees, Rev. John Brownlee, Hartford
Conn.

•Wilkins, Rev. H. J., Anita, la.
"White. Rev. Frank N., Chicago. 111.
2«Whiting, Mr. Ed.. Whiting. la.
"Whiting. Mrs. Wijlard, Whiting, la.

* Primary delegate not designated.

REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Eight meetings have been held during the biennium. In
the endeavor to cooperate helpfully with other agencies,
consideration has been given not only to departments of
work directly under the care of the Executive Committee but
also to several to which it is indirectly related. This has
necessitated extended sessions ranging from a half day to
the larger part of two days. The business considered has in
the main come before the Committee upon report of seven
sub-committees known as Auditing, Year-Book, Publica-
tions, Council Agencies, Polity, Council Program and Council
Arrangements. Special committees have been assigned
matters not covered by the above. The members of the
Committee have been advised month by month through the
reports of the Secretary concerning the progress of matters
centering in the Council office.

The Committee greatly regrets to report that two members
other than those whose terms expire with this session are
obhged to ask to be released at this time. Mr. D. M. Ferry,
Jr., of Detroit, has undertaken to serve the government in
important matters connected with the war, and is unable to
continue upon the Committee, and Dr. R. H. Potter, whose
resignation was tendered the Committee at the time he was
elected President of the Home Missionary Society, now feels
that he must insist upon its acceptance.

Office Organization

The organization of the Council office has gone through a
rapid process of development. The material increase of its
business, incident to the wider range of duties assumed by
the Council under its present Constitution, has been further
augmented by taking on the Tercentenary tasks described
in a later section of this report. Pursuant to the plan laid
before the last Council, an Assistant to the Secretary was
secured in December, 1915, in the person of Rev. Oscar E.

1917] REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 93

Harris of Mansfield, Ohio. He has been given entire charge
of the internal affairs of the office, has conducted many of
its lines of correspondence, edited the Year-Book, and taken
the oversight of the Council treasury, thus relieving the
treasurer of all matters of detail. Mr. Harris came to his
new duties, not only with a thorough training for ministerial
service and an acquaintance with denominational affairs,
but also with business experience and a natural aptitude for
executive duties. He has from the beginning of his engage-
ment been of marked service to the Council along all lines
of orderly method and sound procedure. The Secretary has
bee.n able to place in his hands successive items of responsi-
bihty, thus releasing his own time and strength for service
not possible to delegate to others.

Finances

The detailed reports of the treasurer for the years 1915
and 1916 are before you in printed form. These have been
put, not in the technical terms of a bookkeeper's balance
sheet, but so far as possible in descriptive detail, so that the
meaning of each item may be quickly caught by those not
familiar with the Council's business. The treasurer will also
place before you a statement of Council finances for the nine
months ending September 30, 1917.

The last report of your Committee contained the following
paragraph :

" Your Committee has every reason to expect that
the fundamentally necessary features of the Council's
work can be carried forward for the coming biennium
on the proceeds of the four cents per capita contribu-
tion now asked for."

This forecast has proven correct as far as the stated obli-
gations of the Council are concerned. It happened, however,
that before the biennium was far advanced, an emergency
situation arose whose financial demands have had marked
bearing upon the situat;^^. The Commission on Missions,
after conference with "**"^!r agernies, became strongly per-
suaded that it was its d^^^ , acting under the general instruc-
vo

94 REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE [1917

tions of the Council, to project a comprehensive Tercentenary
Program. The Executive Committee found itself in agree-
ment with this judgment. As there were no other denomina-
tional funds available for the purpose, the Committee beheved
that it would rightfully meet the discretionary responsibility
with which it is entrusted bj'- appropriating such amounts as
might be needed up to the extreme limit of safety. This was
done and special expenditures incurred for travel, printing,
postage, clerical work, etc., during the period between June,
1916, and May, 1917, of about $6,000. This not only ex-
hausted the small surplus in the treasury but necessitated
securing a loan of $2,000. Coincident with the period of this
expenditure, the denominational mission boards assumed the
salary and expenses of Rev. W. W. Scudder, D.D., as Associate
to the Council Secretary in promoting the Tercentenary
Program. Dr. Scudder has specialized on the apportionment
plan, missionary finance and education.

With the beginning of 1917 the demands of the Tercentenary
Program were so far developed and its value to the denomi-
nation and the Kingdom so assured that the Committee felt
warranted in asking a limited list of individual donors to
underwrite its cost. The shadow of impending war was at
that time upon us, making it difficult to secure funds. But
generous responses were received from a considerable number
in the form of pledges running over a four-year period. On
account of these pledges, the sum of $4,607.50 has been paid
into the Council treasury. This amount, with deferred in-
stalments, will enable us to meet the miscellaneous expenses
incident to pushing the Program between now and 1920.
The Committee has submitted to the mission boards the
query whether they will deem it advisable to carry Dr. Scud-
der's salary and traveling expenses for another year and has
received an affirmative response. It is a matter of regret to
the Committee that it has not been found possible to relieve
the missionary agencies of this expense. It believes, however,
that no item of the budget for promotion annually assumed
by them will yield larger returns than this.

The Council will readily see frf^.'^^^-he above statement the
nature of the problem wh*?h conl""""its its treasury. On the
present basis of income, it will be noerssary to exercise stringent

1917] REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 95

economy and to carry for the present a small loan. While
there is every reason to believe that under such procedure the
main features of the Council's business can be adequately
cared for and the balance ultimately restored to the right side
of the ledger, it will mean curtailment at certain points, par-
ticularly in the matter of meetings and activities of Council
Commissions. What plan, therefore, ought to be followed?

The simplest plan would be to increase the present per
capita levy from four cents to five. It is beheved that a
large part of our fellowship would approve such a change.
The seven thousand dollars thus secured would meet the
group of needs just named and restore a working balance to
the Council treasury. The Committee, however, after careful
review of the whole case, is not inclined to recommend this
course. In reaching this decision, it is not in any sense in-
fluenced by the idea that such an increase would place an
excessive or unjustifiable burden upon our membership. Five
cents a year is certainly not a large sum to pay for the privilege
of counting oneself a part of our national Congregational
fellowship. Probably no other denomination of importance
conducts its affairs upon the basis of so small a contribution.
But we are in the midst of exacting demands, pubhc and
private. Every retrenchment at all justifiable should be made.
Servants of the denomination should be willing to use an
exceptional amount of effort and to incur unusual anxieties
in the endeavor to escape expansion of expense. This, your
Committee is wilKng to do. It cannot undertake to work
miracles. But it is prepared to use its best endeavor to care
for the Council's business on the present basis of income and,
if possible, to come up to the next Council with a small balance
in the treasury.

In this connection something should be said concerning
the sources of the Council's income. The collection and pay-
ment of the four cents per capita asked for is everywhere
undertaken by state conferences. In some cases they deal
directly with the local churches. In others this is done by
District Associations. Without exception state officials have
shown a cordial spirit of cooperation and the Council office is
indebted to them for generous labor and abundant courtesy.
During the past year extended correspondence has been carried

96 REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE [1917

on with many of them in the effort to get the method of
accounting on a uniform basis as between the state offices
and the national office. For technical reasons, related to the
time of state meeting, method of collection, etc., this has not
been an easy thing to secure, but gratifying progress has been
made. As a memorandum for those having official relation
to the matter, it may be stated that the plan toward which
we are working is that of submitting to the Conference offices
each January a statement of indebtedness for the year then
beginning. This statement is based upon the gross member-
ship figures of the Year-Book then in print, that is to say, the
figures of one year earlier. State offices are requested to
transmit statements on the same basis to local churches, their
payments being due within the bounds of the calendar year.

Despite the efforts of national and state officers, the pay-
ments year by year have always fallen short of the normal
total. Thus in 1914 $24,217.58 were received as against
$30,007.72 due. In 1915 $28,109.81 were received as against
$30,527.28. In 1916 $25,790.28 as against $31,216.56. It
will, therefore, readily be seen that the embarrassment which
confronts the Council treasury would at once disappear if
the total resources assigned it were available. It should not
be hastily assumed that these unpaid amounts represent wilful
disregard of the obligations of fellowship or carelessness of an
exceptional type. It must be borne in mind that a con-
siderable number of churches are in everything but name
extinct. They are in no condition to meet any feature of
their obligations. In a few states the securing of the per
capita payments has been handicapped by lack of system or
a defective system. It is believed that practically everywhere
steps are being taken to make the requests sent the churches
definite in nature and of such form as to secure their attention.
Moreover an increasing number of states are handUng the
matter as a state obligation irrespective of the response or
lack of response on the part of this or that church.

The Year-Book

No radical changes in the form of the Year-Book have been
made during the biennium. Some rearrangement in the order
of material has, it is believed, increased the value of the

1917] REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 97

volume. Improvements in the method of collecting, collating
and checking statistics have added to its accuracy. Some
residuum of error remains and must remain in any volume
containing hundreds of thousands of statistical items.

It has long been felt that the value of the Year-Book would
be much greater if issued not later than May 1st, so that it
might be in the hands of those attending spring conferences.
As the result of painstaking planning and unstinted labor,
this goal was reached for the current year. The record thus
set can be maintained only as similar promptness is shown by
the churches in transmitting their reports. The date can be
moved toward the beginning of the year in the degree that the
churches, with substantial unanimity, fix upon an earlier
date of transmission.

Some increase of cost has attended the attainment of an
earlier issue. A good part of the manufacture has had to be
done under " rush " conditions. A somewhat ampler clerical
force, too, has been necessary. The Committee believes that
it rightly interprets the mind of the churches in judging that
the superior value of an early issue warrants the small ad-
dition to the cost. Next year's volume will, as heretofore,
be produced by The Pilgrim Press. Paper contracts on the
old basis having expired, we shall be obliged to pay the ad-
ditional sum required by present inflated prices.

The Year-Book has been sent, as in the past, to all Congre-
gational ministers and to church clerks who request the
same, on a blank forwarded for that purpose. So far as the
Committee is aware, this plan is generally regarded satis-
factory. It involves an issue of about 10,000 copies yearly*

It appears desirable that for the future the statistical tables
shall recognize the highly important work of the Woman's
Home Missionary Federation. This necessitates the insertion
of an additional column throughout the state schedules. As
the page is already full, some column now inserted must be
omitted. Shall it be the column headed " men's organiza-
tions" or "salaries" or "endowments" or "debts"? All
these suggestions have been made. The Committee and the
editor will welcome instructions if the Council desires to issue
them.

98 report of executive committee [1917

Minutes op the Council

Your Committee submitted to the last Council its judg-
ment that the bound volume of Council proceedings, ad-
dresses, etc., should be sent free to delegates, national and
state denominational executives and to pastors upon request.
It has reviewed the matter freshly in the light of the experi-
ence of the biennium and believes it wise to continue the cus-
tom thus inaugurated. While there would be educational
value in a wider circulation, it appears that the major part
of such value will be attained by furnishing the Minutes
gratis to those whose duties patently call for use of the
volume and to ministers whose need of it prompts a postal-
card request. That the size of the edition may be determined
at once, all requests should be sent to National Council office
not later than November 1st. The present excessive cost of
printing compels restriction at every point where serious loss
will not result.

Council Meeting

Under instructions given in 1915 the Committee canvassed
with care the proposal to hold the 1917 meeting in the summer
rather than at the usual fall date and decided in favor of that
course. The development of plans for the meeting appeared
to confirm the wisdom of the decision. Much interest was
shown in all quarters of the country and there was every
prospect of an exceptionally large attendance at Los Angeles.
With the declaration of war, however, it speedily became
evident that it would be very difficult to carry out the plan
of meeting at a point so distant from the numerical center of
the denomination. The Committee sought the advice of as
many of our constituency as could be consulted in a brief time
and reached the conclusion that the Hkehhood of a meager
attendance was so great as to demand that it assume the
responsibility of canceling the arrangement. A statement
was issued through the denominational press describing the
situation as it appeared to your Committee.

In this connection it should be said that pursuant to in-
structions inquiry has been made as to the judgment of state
Conference Boards of Directors concerning a possible change
of the regular time of meeting from October to May. In

1917] REPORT OP EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 99

only one or two cases was the opinion expressed that such
change would be of advantage. Your Committee is obHged,
therefore, to believe that the present date is satisfactory to
the great majority of the churches. If the Council shares
this view and if, therefore, we are to continue indefinitely the
custom of meeting in the fall, it would appear desirable to
raise with state organizations now holding a fall session the
question of shifting to the spring in the interest of both the
state and national gatherings.

This year's meeting of the Council has been scheduled for
eight days, as was the meeting of 1915. The Committee finds
it exceedingly difficult to make adequate provision within this
period for presenting all our national and international inter-
ests. It believes there would be wisdom in considering
whether we ought not to return to the former custom of a
nine-days meeting. It does not feel warranted at the present
time in offering a recommendation upon the point, but would
ask that members of the Council give the subject fresh con-
sideration with reference to possible action.

Circulation of Printed Matter

The Council office has continued to issue during the bi-
ennium, pamphlets and handbooks for the use of the churches.
Leaving out of account Tercentenary pubUcations, which
will be reported by the Commission on Missions, this printed
matter has consisted of some twenty issues, dealing mainly
with various aspects of local church work. Some hundreds of
thousands of copies have been circulated, and it is believed
that something has been accomplished in helping the churches
to make use of effective methods of prosecuting their task.
The possibilities of the field have, however, barely been
touched. What is needed is a thorough exploration of the
whole area of practical church life and the production of
standardized manuals and smaller pamphlets covering its
varied problems and needs. This will call for an amount of
time and money not at present available. It is hoped, how-
ever, that steady progress can be made in the immediate
future. An arrangement has been effected by which this im-
portant subject will be handled by The Pilgrim Press, the

100 REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE [1917

Council office cooperating under plans which permit entire
freedom of action of both parties but which will, it is believed,
result after a series of years in the assumption of full responsi-
bility by The Pilgrim Press for responding to every require-
ment of the churches which can be met by the printed page.
A.11 will agree that this is the normal order. Your Committee
is steadily endeavoring to aid in bringing it about.

The printed matter furnished by the Council's office has,
for the most part, been furnished without charge. While this
practice appears wise as a present poHcy, your Committee
doubts whether it should be indefinitely continued. The
natural way of meeting any concrete item of expense, not com-
mon to the entire body, is that the individual or organization
profiting by it shall make suitable payment therefor. This is
a rule peculiarly applicable to printed matter and ultimately
should be put in force.

Council Membership

The Council Office has of necessity dealt constantly with
questions relating to Council membership. The conditions of
membership in the National Council are defined by Article
III of the Constitution, By-Law XVIII, and certain
resolutions adopted at the Kansas City meeting of 1913.
While in their main features the rules thus created are clear
and adequate, it has been found that in certain minor respects
they need to be supplemented. Considerable debate and
confusion have arisen as to the choice of persons not members
of the appointing body, the tenure of office in the case of
persons thus chosen, the right of a state conference to provide
for filhng vacancies in the delegations of District Associations
within its bounds, etc.

To obviate this confusion, slight verbal changes in the
wording of the Constitution and the addition of certain By-
Laws will suffice.

While it is highly important to secure stability and con-
tinuity in the membership of the Council, care must also be
given to maintaining its democratic quality by making rules
as flexible as possible. With these things in mind as well as
the specific questions which have arisen in the two bienniums
just ended, your Committee recommends the repeal of the

1917] REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 101

"Interpretations" adopted by the Council of 1913 and found
on page 355 of the Minutes of that body. It also recommends
the adoption of the following By-Laws numbered as indicated:

XIX

While removal from the bounds of the appointing
body causes forfeiture of membership in the Council,
this fact shall not be construed as forbidding the
election of non-residents by any appointing body.

Each appointing body may, at its discretion, desig-
nate the method of filling vacancies in its delegation.
Unless other method has been adopted, the Council
will recognize such substitutes from Conference or •
Association as may be designated by the remaining
delegates from such Conference or Association or (in
the absence of such designation) by the total delegation
from within the bounds of the state concerned, these
substitutes to be certified to the Credentials Com-
mittee by certificate of a Chairman chosen by such
delegates.

XXI

Persons designated to fill vacancies under By-Law
XX shall continue in office only for the meeting of the
Council for which the designation is made.

XXII

Any alternate, specifically designated by an appoint-
ing body, who may be present and seated at any Coun-
cil meeting in the absence of his principal, becomes
the regular delegate of that body, displacing the
principal first appointed.

If the proposed By-Laws meet approval it will be necessary
to make certain changes in the Constitution. In order that
the matter might come before the present Council in proper
technical form, the Committee has requested one of the state
conferences, meeting in the fall, to consider the necessary
changes and if deemed desirable to request that they be

102 REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE [l917

made. The following recommendations, if approved by such
conference, will, therefore, come before you in due form,

1. That Section 4 of Article III of the Constituti on
be repealed.

2. That for the first paragraph of Section 5, Article
III, ending with the words " shall be four years," there
be substituted the following: — " The term of delegates
shall be four years. Elections to fill vacancies shall be
for the remainder of the unexpired term."

It is also recommended that Section 2 of Article III of the
Constitution relating to Honorary Members be amended by
inserting after the word " service " in the eighth line the
words " persons appointed by national missionary boards
as corporate members, executive officials of such boards
whose scope of responsibility is coextensive with the nation."

Expenses of Delegates

The Council of 1915 directed the Executive Committee to
consider the question of devising means to pay expenses of
delegates attending National Council meetings.

At intervals, during the entire period since the Council
was organized in 1871, this subject has been discussed. The
usual tendency has been to refer the matter to state or dis-
trict bodies, asking them to pay the expenses of their repre-
sentatives. Inquiry reveals the fact that considerable action
along that line has been taken but there seems no likelihood
that the end in view will ever be compassed by that method.
It is probably felt to be illogical as well as difficult for the
local bodies to handle the matter. Since the Council is a
national affair, the general judgment seems to be that the
expenses ought to be nationally met. Now that the Council
has assumed important administrative obligations there has
been a marked increase of the demand for some sort of a
solution of this question. As things now stand, attendance
at the Council is largely Hmited to those having some surplus
income, plus others who have less resources but who live near
by, together with a certain number who are willing to make
heavy sacrifices in order to be present.

1917] REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 103

None of the independently organized bodies, such as the
Baptists or the Disciples, pay the expenses of delegates, so
far as is known. The Presbyterians pay the entire cost of
attendance of the large body known as the General Assembly
which meets every year. The Methodists pay the expenses
of delegates to their quadrennial conference. The effect of
such payment in the case of the Presbyterians and Methodists
has been, of course, to secure the presence of a very full
delegation. This is undoubtedly wholly advantageous. On
the other hand, it is fair to doubt whether a membership thus
obtained expresses the same amount of interest in matters at
stake as could be secured under another system.

Judgment will naturally divide as to what is fair and de-
sirable in this matter. It is easy to argue that a denomina-
tion has no right to ask for expenditure of time and thought
from those who care for its affairs and then in addition to
expect them to pay all or part of the cost of attendance. On
the other hand, it seems to be possible to argue with similar
force that attendance upon a national meeting is not merely a
duty but a privilege and that there is no impropriety in giving
delegates the opportunity to pay at least a portion of the
cost, since along with the discharge of their duty they meet
old friends and make new ones, enjoy an inspiring meeting
and incidentally see a good deal of the country. Nor does it
appear without force to say that service which represents
definite personal sacrifice is likely to have a certain value not
to be found in service whose cost is met by others.

It would appear, therefore, that a wise and equitable plan
might be devised by which, under certain uniform regulations,
the railway fare of the delegates attending the Council should
be reduced to a certain maximum, or by which under a sliding
scale of percentages part of the cost should be met, dependent
on the distance from the place of meeting.

A recent study was made as to the number of miles which
would need to be traveled by a body of delegates equal to
that which met at New Haven in case the meeting was held
in Chicago. The plan followed was to measure a straight fine
from the middle of each state to Chicago, then to multiply
this distance by the scale of the map, then by two to get
mileage for round trip, and this by the number of delegates

104 REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE [1917

from the state. The result obtained was 877,108. Inasmuch
as railroads do not run in straight lines, it is safe to say that
10% should be added to this in order to get an approximate
total of the miles of travel involved. This would give 964,818.
At 2:^c. a mile the cost of traveling the distance named would
be $21,708.40. This estimate is, of course, a very rough one,
but inasmuch as in many parts of the country ministers ride
at half fare, and since for long-distance trips the rate is some-
times less than 2-^c., it is probable that the total suggested is
too high rather than too low. If the Council were to decide
that it could appropriate $10,000 toward railway expenses,
it would be able to pay, let us say, one third of all amounts
between $5 and $25 and two thirds of amounts above $25,
These percentages are, of course, simply given as suggestions
of what is meant by the plan. The actual possibilities would
have to be determined by careful computation. An appropria-
tion of $10,000 for each meeting would mean an annual
per capita tax of approximately three fourths of a cent per
year on the total membership.

Council Commissions

The Executive Committee, by reason of its responsibility
for the Council treasury, as well as by its endeavor to be of
service to all agencies, has had frequent occasion to consider
the subject of Council Commissions. There can be no ques-
tion of the permanent importance of these bodies. Only
through their study and under their guidance can the Council
rightly relate itself to the various fields of its responsibility.
Up to the present time, however, it has proven impossible for
the Commissions, except the Commission on Missions, to
meet the demands upon them in any adequate way. Their
tasks, difficult at the best for busy men and women to dis-
charge, are made impossible by their scattered membership
and the prohibitory expenditure of time and money required
for meetings.

As to number and size of Commissions, it appears to your
Committee that the list of the last biennium should be con-
tinued except that on Public Worship, which, in its last report,
indicated its purpose to finish the cycle of forms upon which
it has been at work for some years and to ask at this Council

1917] REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 105

to be discontinued. The functions of the Commission
on Religious and Moral Education and of the Commission on
Social Service will be somewhat altered by the arrangement
which centers the executive care of these interests in the
Congregational Education Society. But they will have still
an important function in an advisory capacity. The technical
knowledge and wider relationship needed by this Society for
the proper discharge of the duties coming under the two heads
named cannot be secured save through the continuance of
these Commissions.

It appears to your Committee that two Commissions may
wisely be added to the existing number. One is a Commission
on War Work. The events of current days have thrown into
relief not only the moral quality of national interests, but also
the profound and exacting responsibility of the Church of
Christ for the shaping of those interests. In like way the
three years past have revealed the intimacy of our concern
for every manner of international problem. This Council has
at the present time no agency definitely charged with the
study of this great national and international field nor with
leadership in the immediate and sacred duties which war
conditions have thrust upon us. The Social Service Com-
mission has acted with reference to many matters included
in its bounds. To ask this Commission to continue in so
doing and to cover the ground fully would be to assign it
tasks much more burdensome than should be assumed by a
single Commission.

The other is a Commission on Organization. Our Congre-
gational fellowship throughout its history has been primarily
concerned about ideals and spiritual values. It has neither
occasion nor purpose to change this attitude. But recent
years have brought to us a clearer perception of the advantages
of simplified and fitting organization through which to labor
for ideal ends. Large progress has been made toward such
organization in national and state matters. Much less prog-
ress has been made in the effective organization of local
churches and district associations. There would be distinct
advantage in designating a responsible agency to study the
subject and to make suggestions looking toward more ade-
quate ways of addressing ourselves to our total task. Certain

106 REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE [1917

questions which at the present time are assigned to the Execu-
tive Committee but for whose proper care it has neither time
nor special competency should be transferred to such a Com-
mission. Among these are the conservation of church
properties and the estabhshment of a system of pastoral
supply bureaus.

Pastoral Supply Bureaus

Your Committee was instructed to make inquiry con-
cerning the wisdom and feasibility of establishing a Bureau
of Pastoral Supply at Chicago. Before stating the results of
such inquiry, the existing situation must be briefly described.
For many years the Massachusetts Conference with admirable
enterprise maintained a Bureau located in Boston. Three
years ago, in conference with the Council's Executive Com-
mittee, plans were projected for making this Bureau a New
England instead of a Massachusetts institution. These plans
have been approved by all the New England Conferences and
the plan is now in operation. The budget of the Bureau,
amounting to something less than $5,000, is provided by a
per capita contribution of one and a half cents from the
New England membership plus the amount received by the
Secretary for his personal service as pulpit supply and certain
fees from ministers whom the Bureau serves. The arrange-
ment is working satisfactorily and with constantly growing
results. ■ Both in securing pastoral settlements and in fur-
nishing temporary supphes, the Bureau is rendering an in-
dispensable service. The New York Conference maintains
a Bureau at small expense which renders valuable service to
the self-supporting churches of the state.

In all other parts of the country, the State Superintendent
constitutes in his own person a Bureau of Pastoral Supply.
In states where the unified type of conference organization
has been estabUshed, the Superintendent's aid is coming to
be very generally sought by all the churches. In states where
the Superintendent still has official relation only to home
missions he renders a varying degree of service to the stronger
churches, the amount depending on the personality of the
Superintendent and various other factors.

It will thus be seen that we have a plan for the securing of

1917] REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 107

pastoral settlements which in some sense covers the entire
field. It has, however, grave defects.

1. In many states there is a lack of definition as to
the Superintendent's responsibility in the matter. He
cannot act effectively because his duty is not clear.

2. Because of varying and imperfectly defined
methods in force, many of our churches fail to avail
themselves of existing agencies of advice and thereby,
not infrequently, are delayed in the settlement of
pastors or make superfluous mistakes in choosing their
leaders.

3. Our ministers are in good degree without such
recognized and adequate agencies of advice and aid as
are due the ministry of any denomination which seeks
to meet the obligations of fellowship.

4. There is no adequate method in force by which
those charged with promoting pastoral settlements
share among themselves the information needful for
the right discharge of their duty.

5. The state unit of operations is too small. For the
proper adaptation of minister to church and church to
minister, wide range in types of field and of gifts is
needed. Somewhat paradoxically the small unit places
too large a responsibility upon a single individual.
He is deprived of that opportunity for conference with
others having similar responsibilities which is essential
for a task so delicate and important.

Your Committee is, therefore, persuaded on the one hand
that our present plan is unsatisfactory and on the other hand
that an adequate system of Bureaus of Pastoral Supply is
greatly to be desired. This system ought to be national in
character, its cost being borne by all alike and its benefits
accessible to all alike. Only thus can the interchange of in-
formation between Bureaus and the desirable correlation of
their effort be secured.

Passing from this general proposition to details, it seems
clear that as our denomination is now distributed, there ought,
ideally, to be three such bureaus, located respectively at

108 REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE [1917

Boston, Chicago and San Francisco. The field of the first
would be the New England and Middle States; of the second,
the Central West and the South ; of the last, the states of the
Mountains and the Coast.

From this point forward, difl&culties appear. They may be
summarized as follows :

1. The expense of so extensive a system would be
a somewhat formidable item, as measured by the
standards which in such matters our denomination has
been accustomed to apply. It is quite useless to estab-
lish a Bureau unless it is put in charge of a thoroughly
competent man. Sound judgment and high character
are nowhere more imperatively needed. Moreover,
the large area, which would necessarily be covered by
each of the Bureaus suggested, would call for much
travel on the part of the Secretary in order that he
might have first-hand acquaintance with his constitu-
ency and fellow workers. It would also call for an ofiice
expense of reasonable dimensions. The three Bureaus
could not be properly conducted for less than $16,000
per year. This would mean about two cents per
capita from our gross membership.

2. It would presumably be felt by the churches lo-
cated at a distance from the Bureau to which their
territory should be assigned that the benefit they
would receive would be exceedingly shght.

3. While the Boards of Directors of the states of
the Central West, who have been consulted by your
Committee, have with only one or two exceptions
expressed the judgment that a bureau at Chicago
would be a desirable thing, they have in every case
stated that they could see no way to provide for its
support.

Despite these difl5culties the Executive Committee does
not believe that the Council should abandon the idea of such
a national system of Pastoral Bureaus. It will therefore
offer a recommendation looking toward further study of the
subject.

1917] report of executive committee 109

Denominational Periodicals

The National Council of 1915 referred to the Executive
Committee a memorial from the Illinois Conference con-
cerning Congregational periodicals whose purport is indicated
by the following paragraph :

"We, therefore, respectfully memorialize our National
Council to give earnest and early attention to this im-
portant matter and to take such steps as may seem
wise to acquire and manage as a whole our weekly and
monthly, national and state publications, with the
object of presenting to our membership our denomi-
national work in the large and as a complete and
harmonious campaign for the great kingdom."

The Committee found itself entirely in agreement with
the Council in its estimate of the importance of the subject.
No single educational force has larger possibilities for the
upbuilding of the denomination than its periodical output.
Accordingly the Committee has given the subject prolonged
study both in its regular meetings and through the work of
sub-committees. The inquiry early narrowed itself to the
relations between The Advance and The Congregationalist.
While there are various other Congregational periodicals of
a general nature, none of them has large bearing upon the
end contemplated in the memorial. A possible exception
may be found in The Pacific, which has continuously repre-
sented Congregationalism on the Coast since 1849. Your
Committee is advised that in connection with another sub-
ject the Commission on Missions will bring before you a
suggestion looking toward possible assumption of denomi-
national responsibiUty for this paper.

The Committee after a brief examination dismissed as
impracticable the idea that The Congregationalist and The
Advance might enter into a cooperative arrangement under
which both should use the same news-gathering agencies,
share the cost of the same paid articles and perhaps in other
ways lift the level and reduce the expense of their contents.
A plan of this sort, sufficiently difficult in the case of any two

110 REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE [1917

papers widely separated in location and conditions of pro-
duction, becomes out of the question when in addition one
of the papers is the property of the denomination and the
other of an individual owner. There remained, therefore, but
one proposal to consider, viz.,' a possible purchase of The
Advance by the denomination. Beyond this lay the question
whether such purchase should be regarded as a step toward
the merging of the two papers in a single organ or toward the
maintenance of both papers under such plan of correlation
as has just been described. It is not necessary to recount
the steps followed in the study of this question. It should,
however, be stated that Dr. William E. Barton, the owner
of The Advance, while avowing no conviction as to the best
course to pursue, gave the Committee from the beginning his
aid in their inquiries and expressed his cordial wilHngness to
acquiesce in any. arrangement which might ultimately seem
for the welfare of the denomination and fair to all interests
concerned. Throughout the biennium the Committee has
in like way consulted the officials of the Publishing Society.

The conclusions at which it has arrived are contained in
the recommendations which will be submitted to the Council.
These recommendations are based on the conviction that
under existing conditions the Congregational Churches should
maintain but one weekly periodical. Considerations of
economy require this. With the high cost of paper and labor
and the general disinclination of advertisers to make use of
the religious press, each additional paper means an additional
annual deficit. When, as in the case of The Advance, income
and outgo have in recent years been made to balance, this
result is reached only by means of an amount of unpaid edi-
torial labor not permanently possible and by other economies
in no sense advisable. The Congregationalist, despite a low
salary scale, a careful economy of production and a position
of marked prestige in the denomination, has a yearly deficit
of from $2,000 to S4,000.

It follows inevitably that the endeavor to maintain two
or more papers means the acceptance of less than an ideal
standard of quality for each. To secure high-grade contribu-
tions, to conduct vigorous inquiries in important fields, to
gather, sift and edit religious news and to provide suitable

1917] REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 111

illustrations are expensive undertakings. Without a wide
constituency and a corresponding subscription list, to do all
this is out of the question. The paper now owned by the
denomination has gone to the limit of possibility in these
regards with resources at hand. It could go much further
with a more ample support.

It may be added that with a single paper having the sup-
port of the entire denomination, a slight reduction in the
subscription price might ultimately prove feasible. This,
however, would depend upon unforeseen economic factors
and in any event is not a major consideration. Congrega-
tionalists as a rule are able to pay the rate now asked and will
prefer to do so rather than sacrifice quality.

The Committee has canvassed with care the possible
objections to this plan which have arisen in its discussions.
Only two of these are of sufficient moment to call for mention.
One of these is the fear that no single paper can genuinely
represent the thought and life of our total national constitu-
ency. It does not admit of doubt that to secure such repre-
sentative quality would require continuous, well-considered
effort adapted to the end in view. It is believed that we have
as a denomination the ability to command such effort. It
must be borne in mind that it is not proposed to put the
control of such a national organ in the hands of any group
of men drawn from a single region. By recent readjustments
of method the denomination as a whole has assumed the
control of all its common undertakings. Whenever and
wherever it is not satisfied with what is being done in its
behalf the remedy is within easy reach. The whole fellowship
of our churches has only to express its will and designate the
agents through which that will shall be accomplished.

It is worth while to note in passing that in Hnes of periodical
literature other than religious, there are scores of thoroughly
national publications. Our nation is too homogeneous, not
to say cosmopolitan, to be concerned as to. the physical loca-
tion of the managing editor of a paper or of the presses which
print it.

The second suggested difficulty is simply a variation to the
first. The question is raised .whether different types of con-
viction on theological, social, national, racial, or ecclesi-

112 REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE [1917

astical questions would be permitted expression through a
single organ. The reply must be that in the bygone days of
hot debate it would have been practically impossible to guard
against this peril. But in our own time, with only a moderate
amount of divergence of view among us as to great questions
and with the spirit of toleration widely prevalent, the peril
has become negligible. It- should be remembered that the
paper which is now owned by an agency of the denomination
is recognized by substantially all as loyally endeavoring to
give a hearing to every side of a case which is entitled to it.
Moreover, what has just been said about denominational
control applies here with equal force. If any editor or staff
of editors or board of directors proves incapable of producing
a paper of inclusive sympathies, the denomination will know
what to do. The Committee declines to believe that we are
so lacking in great personalities as to be unable to find the
leadership we need in this field.

It will be noted that the Committee has thus far said
nothing about details as to finances, methods of production
and the like. The reason is plain. This is a question of
fundamental and far-reaching policy. It must be looked at
in the large. If it is not wise for the denomination to main-
tain a single organ only, then it should not acquire The Ad-
vance, even though it came as a gift with a heavy endowment
added. If on the other hand such single organ is in the line
of wisdom, the denomination should not hesitate to pay any
reasonable price. Therefore, it is vitally necessary to settle
first of all whether we can reach agreement of judgment as
to the wise course to pursue. If we are not substantially
united in the opinion that one paper can adequately serve
all sections and all interests, the proposal should be promptly
and cheerfully withdrawn. It is the settled purpose of our
denomination that what we do shall be done with the utmost
degree of harmony. This purpose should have full applica-
tion to the question in hand. Only as the idea of a single
organ meets the general mind can we wisely consider putting
it in force.

If the Council finds itself in sympathy with the views thus
far expressed it will naturally desire to know what the pro-
posal involves in the way of financial outlay, how such outlay

1917] REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 113

is related to our resources and what reasonable expectations
may be entertained of return upon the investment. The
answer to these questions must begin with a brief summary
of the history of The Advance.

Founded in 1867, it has throughout its history, though
privately owned, been recognized and accepted as a Congre-
gational paper. Some five years ago as the result of a series
of events it became hopelessly involved. Its continued publi-
cation appeared impossible. A group of Chicago men, feehng
not only that Congregationalism needed a western organ but
that the good name of the denomination was in some sense
involved in the matter, made various unsuccessful efforts to
solve the problem presented. Finally Messrs. W. E. Barton
and W. W. Newell joined in purchasing the stock of the
paper. Later on Dr. Newell sold his interest to Dr. Barton,
who is now the sole owner. In making this purchase, Dr.
Barton was compelled to assume a body of debts already
incurred by the paper to former owners and other creditors.
This debt, though somewhat scaled down at the time through
concessions of creditors, still constituted a very heavy handi-
cap. Dr. Barton has been carrying the load since the date
named and has been able by measures already mentioned to
make it pay its bills.

The entire statement thus far presented makes it sufficiently
clear that the price which should be named for the paper
cannot be determined solely by asking what dollars and cents
return will accrue to the denomination through purchase.
Large questions of educational policy must be combined with
thoughtful appraisal of the significance to the denomination
of the conditions under which the paper came into its present
ownership.

There is no reason to expect that as a result of the purchase
the net income of The Congregationalist would be increased
in any phenomenal degree. None the less, there is, in the
judgment of the Committee, ample ground to anticipate that
the transaction would yield a sufficient profit to meet the
cost which it entails and in the long run to add something to
the assets of the Publishing Society. It does not appear
extravagant to estimate the additions to the subscription
list of The Congregationalist at a minimum of 8,000. This

114 REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE [1917

would mean an increased income of about $8,000 above the
cost of manufacture and mailing. Against this must be
charged some extra cost for promotion and editing, including
substantial compensation for a strong western editor located
at Chicago. After these deductions are made there ought
still to be at least $4,000 available to pay interest on the in-
vestment and to provide for its ultimate Hquidation. In a
period somewhere between fifteen and twenty years the
whole transaction would thus be closed without charge upon
other denominational funds. Meanwhile, all resultant ad-
vantages accruing to the Publishing Society from increase of
advertising and the promotion of other features of its business
would be on the right side of its balance sheet.

American Bible Society

One of the interests with whose promotion your Com-
mittee is concerned is the American Bible Society. Gifts from
our churches to this cause have been for many years at a very
low ebb. Some explanation and a partial excuse may be
found in the fact that several states maintain Bible Societies
auxiliary to the American and that not a few of our churches
contribute to their support. These contributions, however,
constitute a very moderate aggregate and in any event cannot
possibly be regarded as a proper substitute for support of
the American Bible Society, since it is only through the latter
that we touch the boundlessly important and constantly
growing field of Bible circulation in foreign lands.

The attention of pastors has been called to the matter
during the biennium by circular letter and the subject has
also been given newspaper publicity. It is gratifying to be
able to report some increase of gifts. During the year 1916
our churches sent to the Society the sum of $1,600 as com-
pared to an average of $1,174 for the four years preceding.
While this may be welcomed as indicating some quickening
of the sense of responsibility, it is not possible to feel any
considerable satisfaction in a sum so trifling. Nor can we
escape the fear that the steady pressure of nearby interests
may prevent the maintenance of even the small advance
thus gained. The Committee asks the Council once more to

1917] REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 115

lay the subject earnestly upon the heart and conscience of
the churches. When it is remembered that the American
Bible Society has expended almost $4,000,000 in aiding our
American Board to do its work since the date of its organiza-
tion, none of the additional arguments so easily available is
required to make us conscious of the indispensable place
which the circulation of the Bible through a great national
and international agency should have in our thoughts and
gifts.

Conservation of Church Property

No distinct progress in this field can be reported. In a
general way it may be said that the agitation of the past ten
or fifteen years has made our churches and denomination
more alert to see that denominational interests in local church
properties are guarded. It should be widely understood that
with rare exceptions the courts are- prepared to recognize a
statement of denominational relationship found in a local
church constitution as the final evidence of such denomina-
tion's right to prevent the transfer of the property to another
denomination so long as even a small minority of its members
are prepared to contest the point. This disposition should
in the judgment of your committee be viewed with satisfaction
not because of its possible tendency to perpetuate sectarian
divisions but because only thus can the undoubted moral and
financial contributions to a church's upbuilding, resulting
from its denominational connection, be conserved.

An interesting illustration of the tendency of the courts
just mentioned is found in the case of the Denver Tabernacle
to which allusion was made in this Committee's 1915 report.
It was at that time supposed that on the basis of a majority
decision this valuable property had passed to another denomi-
nation. An appeal to the courts by a minority, however, has
resulted in the confirming of the title in that minority as
representing the body in relation with which the church had
been built up. With grim irony the court assessed a rental
charge for the time of its occupancy against the denomination
which sought to take it over.

116 report of executive committee [1917

Church Assistants

At the last meeting of the Council mention was made of
the importance of the work of the large number of persons,
mainly women, who are acting as church assistants in our
denomination. The Executive Committee has endeavored
in various ways to give larger recognition to this branch of
service. In the blank sent to churches for collecting annual
statistics provision has been made for reporting the names of
the persons thus employed and a list has been printed in the
Year-Book. This hst contains nearly three hundred names.

A League of Congregational Church Assistants has been
organized with Miss Agnes M. Taylor of the Training School in
Chicago as President. The Executive Committee has author-
ized Miss Eleanore W. Nichols of the staff of the Council
office to use such moderate amount of time as may be neces-
sary for the discharge of the duties of Secretary of this League.
Miss Nichols has carried on a considerable correspondence
with pastors seeking assistance and with those who were
looking for positions. The shght effort thus put forth in the
direction of increasing and extending this form of church
service has yielded relatively large results.

The Committee is clear that we should push ahead until,
on the one hand, it is generally perceived by the churches
that they should carry forward their work upon a generous
basis and with the enlistment of varied forms of talent, and
on the other hand an increasing number of carefully trained
women may be led to take up this fruitful type of Christian
leadership.

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE CORPORATION
FOR THE NATIONAL COUNCIL

Pursuant to a duly issued call therefor, the annual meeting
of the Corporation for the National Council was held in the
First Congregational Church, Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday,
October 10, 1917. Present: — Messrs. Peck, Catlin, Har-
wooD, Day and Herring. President Day in the chair.

The officers of the preceding year were re-elected as follows:

First Vice-President Simeon E. Baldwin

Second Vice-President Epaphroditus Peck

Secretary Hubert C. Herring

Treasurer H. Edward Thurston

John H. Perry

Executive Committee , tt r^ tt

Hubert C. Herring

Voted: To extend the loan of bonds 'held by the
Corporation to be used as collateral by the Executive
Committee of the Council until July 1, 1918,

The Treasurer's report was submitted and approved as

follows :

H. Edward .Thurston, Treasurer, in account with the Cor-
poration for the National Council of the Congregational
Churches of the United States.

Debits

1916

Dec. 21

Rec'd Overdue Interest on Mis-

souri Pacific R. R. Co.

Bond

$75.00

1917

Jan. 4

Rec'd Interest on Chicago, Rock

Island & Pacific Bond. .

40.00

Mar. 2

((

Interest on Kansas City,
Memphis & Birmingham

Bond

10.00

July 27

((

Interest on Chicago, Rock

Island & Pacific Bond . .

40.00

$165.00
117

118 REPORT OF THE CORPORATION [1917

Securities Owned by the Corporation

Two Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R.R.
Co., Gen'l Mortage 4% Bonds, $1,000
each, due 1988, quoted Sept., '17, at $760 $1,520.00

One Missouri Pacific Railway Co., First
and Refunding Mortage, 5% Gold Bond,
due Feb. 1, 1965, quoted at 935.00

One Kansas City, Memphis & Birming-
ham R.R., Gen'l Mortage, 4% Bond for

), due March, 1934, quoted at 350.00

Credits
1917
April 3 Paid Premium on bond of Trea-
surer $12.50

Sept. 27 " John J Walker, Treasurer
of National Council, sur-
plus income to date .... 152.50

$165.00

Respectfully submitted,

H. Edward Thurston,

Treasurer.

I have examined the within account with the vouchers and
find it to be correct.

John H. Wells,

Auditor.
Providence, October 2, 1917.
Adjourned:

Hubert C. Herring,

Secretary.

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE
COUNCIL

In reporting to the Council at the end of a second biennium
of service, I venture first of all to quote a paragraph from my
report of two years ago, since it embodies what I continue to
regard as a fundamental principle for the guidance of one
attempting to fill the position you have assigned me:

"My activities have in very large degree been connected
with and under the direction of the various Commissions and
Committees of the Council. This accords not only with my
understanding of the intent of the Constitution, but with my
definite conviction that anyone appointed to be the servant of
a body of people should, to the utmost degree possible, carry
on his work under the guidance of definite agencies of that
body. No man is wise enough to justify the assumption of
individual responsibility in matters of importance where cor-
porate wisdom is available. The executive efficiency which
as a denomination we are seeking must be the product of
decisions carefully reached by representative groups and
vigorously executed by those appointed to various tasks."

Pursuant to this view the record of my personal activities
is merged in that of the Council's Commissions, Committees
and Boards. Such as do not come under these heads are of a
sort which cannot readily be tabulated. I am, therefore, free
to devote this report to some effort at analysis of the meaning
of the tasks and plans which engage the thought of our
denomination.

As we complete the fourth year of the present plan of the
Council's organization, I am confident that we are warranted
in looking with distinct satisfaction upon the development of
our co-operative denominational effort. Asking you to bear
in mind that I am fully conscious of the incompleteness of
many features of this effort, may I submit a brief outfine of
progress made, up to and including the decisions of this
meeting?

119

120 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL [1917

We harve brought to completion so far as present study
enables us to do the process of realigning our missionary
agencies so that kindred functions shall be brought into
administrative unity and the whole circle of mission interests
be given due and balanced place in a total plan. Happily,
the process of accomphshing this has been accompanied by no
visible slackening of effort in any department.

We have reduced the somewhat inchoate form and functions
of the Commissions of the Council to approximate order and
adopted standardized methods of procedure which will make
possible more definite results than in the past.

We have registered the past year a distinct and cheering
advance in the number of states meeting fully their share of
the financial support of the Council's office.

We have maturely considered and projected a carefully
balanced and far-reaching plan for developing the beneficence
of our churches and their membership.

We have secured a wide, though by no means, as yet,
adequate response to the group of special concerted emphasis
upon great duties which we have agreed to call the Tercen-
tenary Program.

Having, at the cost of prodigal labor, formulated a plan
and reached an agreement of judgment as to the raising of a
Pilgrim Memorial Fund and its use for providing an old-age
pension system for our ministry, we have launched a plan for
securing and administering this fund.

We have with entire unanimity decided to abandon the
wasteful and ineffective attempt to reach our constituency
through two competing weeklies and are planning to put all
our strength into the effort to send a single paper of the
highest type into the largest possible number of homes.

We have taken the initial step toward more complete enlist-
ment and unification of the young people of the denomination
in organized effort, both local and general.

For the most part these are only beginnings, some of them
merely plans. It remains to give them the vahdity of achieve-
ment. But it is gratifying to be able to feel that the beginnings
have been thoroughly and unitedly made and that we are
ready to advance toward the larger things before us.

Whatever our interest in these questions of organization,

1917] REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL 121

we have no disposition to permit them to displace our primary
concern for the underlying spiritual aims and ideals which
alone can give warrant for the existence of a Christian church.
We have not, I am confident, departed from the tradition of
the fathers which bids us think of our churches in terms of
their visions and dreams, their plans and purposes, of the
open doors and the far stretch of the road ahead. Permit me,
therefore, renewedly to remind you of two of the fundamental
objects whose pursuit gives shape to all the forms of effort in
which we are engaged. They have augmented interest in the
days through which we are passing because they coincide so
closely with the goals toward which the whole world with
infinite agony is faring forward.

The first of these is the effort to secure unity and fidelity
under terms of completest freedom. It is an effort which we
would not escape if we could, but we could not if we would.
For all around us the men of our time are determined to be
free. The old habit of submission is not wholly broken. The
slave temper lingers in many men and many groups. But
each day adds to the unnumbered host who resentfully,
resolutely, demand their liberty.

We have no fault to find. We believe that a first condition
of reaching humanity's high goal is that all shackles be broken.

We desire freedom of the mind. Beliefs which must wait on
the will of Pope, or Council, or Presbytery, are not beliefs.
Thought which must follow the grooves of social convention,
pohtical tradition, or scientific cults, is not thought.

We desire freedom of the tongue. A man's speech is him-
self. If it be determined by something outside himself, no
self is left. There is no bondage more hopeless than bondage
of the tongue.

We desire freedom of deed. To labor under conditions
which others impose, to live meaningless lives because caught
in the mesh of an environing compulsion — how hopeless, how
infamous it is! The protest registered by our spiritual for-
bears against such slavery has at last received a justification
whose meaning cannot fail to reach every sane man on the
planet. The people of nearly twenty nations are organized to
kill and starve one another, though only the minutest fraction
of them have any such desire.

122 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL [1917

What sort of man is he who is not hot with indignation
that God's free men should be driven to such tasks? May-
God judge and may God pity the man and the men who have
forced us all into this hateful hell.

We stoutly hold that the liberty which should reign every-
where ought to begin in the church. The member in the pew
must not hold his place by virtue of obedience to rules and in
fear of penalties. The minister in the pulpit must speak hia
message and live his life free from allegiance to any master
save the One,

The church in a community must order its affairs as moved
by the Spirit of God, not as prescribed by authority above
itself. Through all the life of the Church of God there must
move the breath of Heaven's freedom.

We are perfectly conscious of the perils which beset this
program. Humanity is wondrously frail, artistically foolish.
Evolution has not yet carried it beyond hail of its brute
ancestry. The grace of God dwells in earthen vessels — very
earthen indeed. Liberty easily passes into license and builds
for itself a new slavery more hopeless than the old. Un-
guarded by the grooves of external control, it wanders wide,
bearing to disaster the dearest hopes of earth.

There may be those who, under the burden of the hour, are
inclined to abandon the dream of liberty, to cancel its pro-
gram. But for us there can be no such mood. We will not
abandon — we will not cancel. The rather, with calmest
assurance, with solemn sense of the far reach of the claim we
make, with open-eyed recognition of the perils that he along
the way, we reassert our conviction that the road to unity
and fidelity runs through the fair domain of freedom.

We believe that our denominational history confirms this
belief. Three hundred years of liberty lie behind us. It has
been a long test. By that test the dream has been proved
vaUd. The program has worked. Divisions we have indeed
had, as prophets of evil foretold. Once there was a sharp
cleavage and, conscience bound, some went out, while others,
conscience bound, bade them farewell. Clash of feeling there
has been, wide disagreement of view. But we have kept to
our faith in freedom. More completely as the years have
passed have we rejected every external bond. And now as

1917] REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL 123

we near the tri-centennial goal, we are moving together as
we never moved before. In all the wide land there are no
factions among us. We are under no strain of controversy.
Everywhere in our fellowship men are exalting the things that
unite, forgetting those that divide. We have proven that
the way to draw men together is to give them full liberty to
go apart.

Our faith in freedom, too, stands approved by the test of
the fidelity of those who have Hved under it. Held by no
bond save the bond of their love, the people of our Con-
gregational order have greatly wrought for God. How
tenderly the mists of the past rest upon their memory.

Men and women of rugged steadfastness, not driven here
and there by shallow emotions.

Men and women of broad vision, not blinded by the dust of
petty bigotries.

Men and women of steady sanity, putting spiritual verities
above the trappings and accidents of religion.

Men and women of inclusive sympathies, able to pray and
labor with any of Christ's disciples.

Men and women of proud courage, pioneers on many a
lonely road of thought and action.

Men and women of sacrificial spirit — the graves of our
martyrs are on every far shore.

We hold that freedom has made its case. By the fruitage of
fidelity it stands approved.

The second goal of effort, less dramatic than the first, is its
indispensable sequel. We are trjdng to attain highest effec-
tiveness of united action under terms of completest democracy.
The world in general has considered that this cannot be done.
Just now, four Kingdoms — one major and three minor —
are engaged in the endeavor to prove that it cannot be done.
For among other things, the Great War has resolved itself
into a test of efficiency as between the surviving autocratic
nations of earth and the rest of the nations all more or less
democratized. Voices have not been lacking to proclaim that
democracy is once again proven inept and incapable. Refusing
to admit the claim, I am ready to admit with all possible
energy of emphasis that democracy must loyally submit itself
to this test when justly applied. Can it do the world's work?

124 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL [1917

Can it produce abundantly, distribute fairly, consume wisely?
Can it train the young, govern the unruly, defend the helpless
in vigorous fashion? Can it build and maintain the complex
structure of a World State and when needful wage victorious
war against any section of the race which in moral madness
seeks to re-establish on earth the law of the j ungle? This test
must be met by democracy and met in all the zones of life.

As Congregationlists, we are trying to meet it, as it applies
to the tasks which fall to a single communism of Christians,
We are committed without reservation to the democratic ideal.
We are trying not to shut anybody out of anything and to let
everybody into everything. We delegate no powers not
subject to preemptory recall. We have no titles of dignity,
no life positions, no hierarchy and no series of ecclesiastical
courts, ascending or descending. In each group and in the
whole group we seek to have all decisions, all plans, all activi-
ties, rest on the broad basis of the common will.

That such a program is beset with difficulties, no one doubts.
Its difficulties are in direct ratio to its value. In our own
history those difficulties have appeared in three chief forms.
One was the emergence of autocracy. It has not been unknown
that men and women of high devotion and pure intent have
assumed on our behalf important tasks and, whether by our
fault or theirs, have come to regard those tasks as a field of
private responsibility in which they had little occasion to seek
advice. There are few of us who do not know of churches
dying or dead from a malady known as "boss-itis" or "clique-
itis." And it is just barely possible that in the larger field of
our common affairs one could find in our history episodes
illustrating the same perils.

Our second difficulty has been vastly more serious. It
sprang from the irresponsible and listless mood which doth so
easily befall a democracy. I grant that it is in defiance of
logic and ethics that it should be so. But logic and ethics
must give way to the fact. And the fact is that all church
democracies have had experience of this weakness — we
perhaps most of all since we have had but a minimum of those
sectarian shibboleths, those slogans of bigotry, which, in some
denominations, have served as stimuli.

Last of all, we have wrestled with the difficulty of fashioning

1917] REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL 125

adequate agencies through which to do our common work.
Organizing wisdom is not intuitive in the individual or the
group. Particularly is it true that pure democracies in which
individual genius must wait on the general will find the
process of developing an organic life slow and hard. One
reads the history of early Congregationalism and notes with
astonishment how its founders experimented this way and
that in the effort to solve what seem to us elementary problems.
It may easily be that our children will read of our doings with
equal astonishment.

But through all our difficulties we have not lost sight of
the fact that it is our duty to attain the highest possible level
of effectiveness in common action upon the hues of our repre-
sentative democracy. I shall not stay to illustrate from our
history. You will find that the clue to the understanding of
every important event in that history is found in its bearing
upon our effort so to order our common life as to enable us to
do a greater work for the Kingdom of God. Sometimes we
had in view a better defence against the spirit of autocracy,
sometimes the securing of an inspirational leadership to over-
come the tendency' to listlessness, sometimes the shaping of an
agency more fitted to a given task, but always — always —
slowly, haltingly but increasingly, have we been pursuing the
goal of effective organization for the securing of a greater
output of productive labor. The readjustments of the last
four years have been part and parcel of the total process —
not differing from it in kind, though relating to a larger
segment of the circle of our life.

If one is to work, it is a comfort to have something worth
working for. I submit that the two goals I have described
furnish a profoundly inspiring motive for work. To pray and
aspire and toil that we may reach the place where a great
company of us, free with the freedom of Christ, shall stand in
unbroken unity of high fellowship and of loving fidelity — how
gracious the picture. To wrestle with the hard tasks of
organized life until democracy comes to its own as the organ,
not only of freedom and fraternity, but of abounding service
to God and man — if anyone wants a better calling, let him go
and seek it. But he will go alone so far as I am concerned.

With such aim for our effort in the large, what are the

126 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL [1917

steps immediately before us? Over what stages do we hope
to travel in the years that lie ahead? I am sure that we shall
find ourselves in instant agreement upon the proposition that
the major lines of our advance will contain no element of
novelty. The staple tasks of the Church of Christ do not
change. At their basis lies the unvarying and ever-renewed
duty of winning disciples for Christ. Generation follows
generation and each must be won. Faith is not hereditary.
It is imparted. By the lodgment of ideas, by the stirring of
the heart, by the conquest of the will, boys and girls, as well as
men and women, are made Christians. The duty of evangelism
never for a moment relaxes its claim upon the Church. The
fundamental demand upon every organization, as upon the
whole of humanity, is that it shall be able to propagate itself.
There is small significance in any achievement of today unless
Tpari passu provision is made for achievements of tomorrow.
The race which loses the power of reproduction will soon be
written off the book of human annals. The church which
cannot or will not beget spiritual children has already written
itself off.

We have no choice therefore but to pray and expect that
the era of larger usefulness toward which we strive shall be
marked by larger power of spiritual procreation. There is
much in our recent history to make us humble and deeply
anxious at this point. The closing years of the last century
and the beginnings of the present witnessed a marked decline
among us of the spirit and of the activities of evangelism. The
reasons for this are not obscure, but nothing in the conditions
of the present hour summons us to search them out. What
interests us is the undoubted fact that for more than a decade
we have been in process of steady recovery from the sag of
those years. The beginnings of this recovery date from the
Council at Des Moines in 1904. But the new impulse revealed
there did not at once clothe itself with effective forms of
effort. Only very slowly with the passing years have we
thought out our problem and begun to see the results of a
new purposefulness in an increase of accessions to our churches
on confession of faith. How slow the process has been may
be seen from the fact that in the last seven years, two of
which recorded the largest gains in our history, our total

1917] REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL 127

receptions on confession were only slightly more than our
losses by death and lapse. Though we made in the seven
years the by no means insignificant net gain of 64,000 members,
over 52,000 of them came to us from other denominations.
This statement, taken in the simplest fashion with refusal
either to exaggerate or ignore its significance, reveals both our
shortcomings in evangelism and the excessive amount of
our loss through "revision of the roll." But the direction
of our movement is unmistakable. No one who is widely
acquainted with our churches can doubt that year by year
they are becoming more evangelistic in purpose and little by
little more fruitful in evangelistic results.

In one way and another the past two or three years have
witnessed much interchange of thought among our leaders as
to the aspects of this subject which should be stressed. There
is probably a general agreement among us as to three of
these. First of all — surely first of all — is our care for the
young fife within the circle of our influence. Baffling as the
task is — and how bitter are my own memories as a pastor of
defeat in this field — we must, under God, get it done. We
must so shelter, guide, nourish these boys and girls, young
men and women, that they shall come into the abiding fellow-
ship of Christ and His church. There is no sure recipe for this
— there are no short cuts. Helps, methods, standards have
their minor place. But in the main it is just by patient
plodding, prayerful effort, upon the staple lines of the ages
that we shall get done what may be done. Fundamental in
it all is prayer — not the prayer of a whole church, for what
church taken as a whole can be called a praying church —
but the prayer of the few who, in the prophet's word, are
"God's remembrancers" and are determined to "take no
rest and give Him no rest" until the children be won. Who,
that has real faith in prayer, can believe that any child will
go permanently astray on whose behalf beheving prayer is
offered day by day from infancy to maturity? How inevitably
there follows as a first duty resting on the leaders, of a church
to establish both ^ habit of prayer and an agreed concert of
prayer which shall include within its sacred boundaries every
child which through any sort of tie that church can claim as
its own. From such a root all needful forms of definite effort

128 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL [1917

for the saving of the children will grow. Without that root
all growths of effort wither away.

Coupled with this there is an agreement of emphasis among
us as to the central place of personal evangelism. Whether by
pastor or layman, the most hopeful approach must be of a
person to a person. Without attempting an exact appraisal
of the place and value of the special meeting and the profes-
sional evangelist, it may be accepted as beyond controversy
that our chief dependence must be not upon these but upon the
enlistment of many lives in winning other lives. If this is to
be done successfully, it must be done deliberately. Many
things happen in this world. But they are mainly the un-
desirable things. The valuable things are sought. One would
say that a church can scarcely claim even to have faced its
evangelistic responsibility until at least four things have
been done.

First. Assignment of definite responsibility for sharing the
pastor's evangelistic leadership to one, two, three or more
carefully chosen persons.

Second. The making of a complete description list of all
the unconverted people for whom in any special way that
church is responsible, this hst to be in the hands and on the
hearts of all those entrusted with leadership and others whom
they may find it desirable to invite to share their r3sponsibihty.

Third. The devising of some simple unspectacular method
of concerted action by which a specific person undertakes the
duty of seeking to win certain specified persons.

Fourth. The laying out in advance each year of a definite
program of evangelistic education and effort which shall not
only bring the appeal of the Gospel to all ages and classes but
shall develop within the church a growing consciousness of
its evangelistic obligation.

A final feature of our evangelistic duty and as one may
hope of our purpose is less often discussed but is not therefore
less in need of recognition. Facing as we must the fact that
the church under whose influence a child is reared is bound
in large measure to determine that child's idea of Christianity,
we are at once confronted with another fact, viz., the most
effective possible way of winning him to Christian faith is to
make the worship, work and spirit of that church attractive.

1917] REPORT OF THE gECRETART OF THE COUNCIL 129

How forbidding and hopeless is effort to secure committal to
Christ when the church which one is expected to join makes
no appeal to heart, mind, conscience, imagination or aspira-
tion! Of what possible use is it to talk of evangelism in a
church cleft by factional strife? What leverage is there for
winning one to Christ before whose eyes is the weekly spectacle
of unoccupied pews, a lifeless service and a listless congre-
gation? What impulse toward a life of Christlike devotion
can be lodged in the heart whose interpretation of that de-
votion must be found in a church commercial in its methods,
self-centered in its gifts, untouched by the passion for service
which its Master requires?

Even if a given church is free from these violations of the
Christian spirit, it may still be a sad handicap to those of its
members who long to bring the unsaved to Christ. Picture to
yourself a church with a slovenly service of worship, the
sacraments shorn of their mystic dignity, the hymns of the
ages displaced by the cheap lyrics of the hour, the uncomely
church building made more repellant by its disrepair, the
leadership of the church discounted by an annual or biennial
change of pastors! None of these things necessarily involves
moral delinquency. But can one believe that such a church
will ever have any real success in winning disciples? If one
is to be asked to join a church, he must be able to feel that
there is something to join. How little there is to join if a
church have no dignity, no continuity of life, no steady con-
trolling purpose, no sense of the meaning of the Christian
mysteries with which she deals, no warmth of interest in
her Bible, her sacraments, her worship and her sacred
seasons.

As Congregationalists, we are doubly at fault if we go
astray in this matter. For we have the guidance of the best
tradition of our New England churches. The white meeting-
house crowning the hillside in quiet mastery of the landscape,
the severely simple service, reverent and strong, the long
pastorate extending often from parents to children and
children's children, the grave outlook on the world — what
pride we have in the thought of such churches. Let us then,
in our own time and in such ways as God reveals to us, give
our churches the same dignified, continuous, purposeful, potent

130 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL [1917

quality. So shall we have in the very warp and woof of our
church life a source of evangelistic power.

Turning to the other half of our staple task, viz., the build-
ing up of men in Christ and building them into Christian
relationships, our pathway is equally clear. We have come to
a time when those who care to think soberly have at hand the
materials for a definite conception of what is involved in
rehgious and moral education. With the clearing of our
vision in this field, there has come to some of us a depressing
sense of our denominational shortcomings, a depression not
lightened by the undoubted fact that other denominations
have like defects. How fragmentary, how desultory, how
pinched, how nerveless is the educational influence of the
average church. How incapable it is of counteracting the
forces that day by day play upon the lives it serves to their
spiritual undoing. How few members of our churches ripen
into the golden autumn, their minds quickened with Christian
knowledge, hearts aglow with Christian emotion, wills enlisted
in the Christian crusade. It must not continue to be so. We
must, under God, find the way into fuller discharge of the
Church's educational task. To lead men to understand and
feel and use the mighty factors of their Christian faith, to
enter into the meanings of prayer, of the worship of God, of
the Scriptures, of the hymns of the ages, of the history of the
centuries, of the Lord's Day, of the Lord's Supper, of Christian
fellowship, of the resurrection hope — how hard and exacting
the way to this ampler life.

I must refrain from the attempt to put before you all the
features of the broad field of religious and moral culture. I
may, however, in a few sentences, recall to your minds its
wide range.

The church is under obhgation to ground its children in
an adequate knowledge of the fundamentals of Christian
truth as revealed in the Scriptures, using such materials and
methods as shall put her instruction on an intellectual level
with that of the pubhc schools.

The church is bound to secure a cultivation of the deeper
nature parallel to this intellectual development which shall
ensure in each life a willing surrender of the heart to the
truths apprehended by the mind.

1917] REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL 131

The church is bound to train those under her care in the
moral bearings of the truth taught, to the end that petty,
selfish, superstitious or warped views of duty may be escaped
and a noble, generous and aspiring type of character be
created.

The church is bound to relate her teaching to the quickened
social conscience and broadened social opportunity of the time
in which we hve, to the end that formal and individualistic
piety may be merged in the social righteousness from which
shall come at Jast the Kingdom of God.

The church is bound to maintain a continuous process of
education for her mature members by which they shall,
through guidance of the spoken word and the printed page, be
kept abreast of the rapidly unfolding and infinitely varied
moral life of the contemporary world.

Especially is the church bound to see that the department
of current knowledge which deals with mission undertakings
shall have adequate presentation and secure a sympathetic
response among her people.

Much more than has been her wont, the church must guide
her membership into the meanings of worship. Baffling as is
the task, she must find ways of helping them to experience the
glow of emotion which springs from real prayer and praise, the
clearing of the vision which comes to the congregation which
unitedly waits upon God, the energizing of the will which is
begotten in those who enter into the communion of saints.

The church must bestow peculiar pains upon the training of
her leaders. All failures may be forgiven and measurably
overcome save the failure to provide adequate and ever more
adequate leadership from generation to generation. Ministers,
missionaries, administrators, educators, gifted men and women
for the voluntary tasks of the church and for the wider world
beyond her bounds — there are no limits to the task of
securing and training such leaders as these.

In no small degree, the adjustments which we are making
in our national agencies have had in view more effective pro-
vision for leadership in the educational field I have briefly
outlined. It is believed that we have in our combined Pub-
lishing and Education Society an agency of large possibilities.
Around it will center the various activities of the Council's

132 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL [1917

officers and Commissions and, on their educational side, the
Mission Boards. The experience of all the churches will be
made available for each. Little by little, helping one another
and being helped by one another, we shall come more near to
our goal "to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."

Two specific features of our responsibility call for peculiar
emphasis. One has to do with the colleges and seminaries
affiliated "wdth our churches. The situation is by no means
satisfactory. Noble as is our history and impressive as are our
assets in this field, we are not by any means living up to that
history nor realizing the full value of our assets. The problem
is full of difficulty but full of vital promise. We must study
it unremittingly. We must find a way to keep our churches in
close and helpful contact with the college, the college in like
contact with the church. We must rekindle fires of enthusiasm
for Christian education which in some quarters have died
down. We must give to our whole program of higher educa-
tion a unity and purposefulness beyond that which, it now
possesses. But all these matters I must not further dwell upon
since they will come before you through their appropriate
channels.

I have no adequate speech with which to set forth my sense
of the importance of the last specific educational responsibili-
ties which I shall call to your attention. It has to do with
the world conditions with which we are dealing and are to
deal in the years ahead.

We have much to say and properly about "Pilgrim Prin-
ciples." Without any foolish assumption that we have a
monopoly of the tradition of freedom, democracy, fellowship
and enlightenment which our nation inherits from the early
life of the New England colonists, w^e are surely not amiss in
feeling that that tradition lays upon us an inescapable, peculiar
and solemn obligation to endeavor to make those principles
dominant in the world. If the nations had known and heeded
them, there could have been no war nor fear of war. If they
will now learn and heed them, they may speedily find peace
and repair the waste of these hideous years. Before our eyes
a new world is coming to birth through the awful travail of
war. Its people — bruised, bewildered, stupefied, yea, and
some of them brutalized — must be taught what to do in and

1917] REPORT OP THE SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL 133

with that new world. Who shall teach them if not the church
of God — that church which, if it had taught them, had
saved them from their fall? And who shall lead, if not
the free churches of America? And which among those
churches shall count themselves laden with peculiar responsi-
bility, if not the churches which claim John Milton, John
Hampden and Oliver Cromwell as their own — the churches
whose foundations were laid by Robinson and Bradford and
John Wise and Thomas Hooker?

REPORT OF TREASURER

Rev. John J. Walker
Boston, Mass.

Year Ending Dec. 31, 1916

Cash Balance Dec. 31, 1915 $3,900.16

Per capita contributions by churches 25,790.28

Advertising in the Year Book 245.00

Sale of Year Books and other

printed matter 349.29

Income from invested funds 87.50

Interest on monthly balance 55.80

Refund on rent 325.99

* Social Service Special Fund 1,124.25

Sale of Tercentenary Literature. . . 1,438.20
From National Societies for Appor-
tionment Fund Expenses 2,529.12

Loan from Old Colony Trust Co. . . . 2,000.00

Miscellaneous 384.57

$38,230.16

Rent $1,712.42

Salaries 10,041.67

H. C. Herring $5,000.00

O. E. Harris 2,041.67

H. A. Atkinson (part

year) 2,250.00

W. W. Scudder (part

year) 750.00

Clerical Labor 4,304.01

Office Supphes 909.20

Furniture and Fixtures 946.93

Postage 1,329.50

Telephone 101.19

♦Collected and disbursed for the Social Service Commission.

134

1917] REPORT OF TREASURER 135

Printing of leaflets and other litera-
ture $1,166.34

Advertising 70.00

Travel of Secretaries 1,546.90

Executive Committee Meetings . . . 304.27
Commission on Missions Meetings. 1,877.53
Other Council Commissions Meet-
ings 628.59

Church Assistants League 21.00

Year Book, printing and mailing . . . 6,132.80
Council Minutes, printing and mail-
ing 1,484.35

Federal Council 374.50

* Social Service Special Fund 1,124.25

Premium on Treasurer's Bond. . . . 12.50

Cuts and Posters 474.39

Moving Expenses of W, W. Scud-

der 540.00

Sundry Expense 450.18

Miscellaneous Tercentenary Ex-
penses 1,093.39

Cash Balance, Dec. 31, 1916 1,584.25

$38,230.16

Due from sale of literature, Dec.

31, 1916 $754.82

Unpaid Bills 2,258.23

Loan from Old ColonyTrust 2,000.00

*Collected and disbursed for the Social Service Commission.

^ REPORT OF TREASURER

Rev. John J. Walker,
Boston, Mass.

Jan. 1, to Oct. 1, 1917

Cash Balance, Dec. 31, 1917 Sl,584.25

Per capita contributions by churches 26,631.96

Advertising in the Year Book 119.00

Sale of Year Book and other printed

matter 136.32

Income of invested funds 152.50

Interest on monthly balance 26.84

Refund on rent 381.10

From National Societies for Appor-
tionment Committee Fund 2,722.52

Sale of Tercentenary Material 1,340.49

Special Tercentenary Subscriptions

Installment No. 1 4,612.50

Miscellaneous 32.01

Rent $ 1,514.93

Salaries 8,024.91

H. C. Herring $3,749.94

O.E.Harris 2,024.97

W. W. Scudder 2,250.00

Clerical Labor 4,423.01

Office Supplies 716.43

Furniture and Fixtures 72.80

Postage 1,007.50

Telephone 110.78

Printing of literature for free dis-
tribution 954.69

Advertising 22.50

Travel of Secretaries 1,511.52

136

$37,739.49

[1917 REPORT OF TREASURER 137

Executive Committee Meetings. . . $359.61
Commission on Missions Meetings 461.81
Other Council Commissions Meet-
ings 136.50

Council Meeting 536.24

Year Book, printing and mailing . . . 4,753.84

Handbooks 29.25

Federal Council 572.25

Tercentenary Materials — Deeds
and Duties, Cuts, Posters, Lec-
tures, Pageants, etc 2,856.50

Stereopticon Slides > 2,117.64

Interest on $2,000 Loan 45.50

Petty Cash 245.00

W. W. Scudder's Moving Expense. 253.90

Sundry Expense 379.38

Cash Balance, Oct. 1, 1917 6,633.00

$37,739.49

REPORT OF COMMISSION ON MISSIONS

Three sessions of the entire Commission have been held
since the Council of 1915, each covering two full days. All
members of the Commission have continued in service through-
out the period except that Mr. D. P. Jones of Minneapolis
was obliged to resign in March, 1917, on account of impaired
health. Sub-committees have met at various times, usually-
just before or after a meeting of the Commission. These
Committees are as follows :

Organization, Field Work, Administration, Woman's Work
Apportionment, Publicity.

Readjustment of Missionary Boards

Extended consideration has of necessity been given to
matters growing out of the action of the Council concerning
the readjustment of the structure and functions of the Mission
Boards. It is assumed that a detailed account of steps taken
is not desired and there is, therefore, submitted the following
analysis of the existing situation :

1. The Congregational Home Missionary Society and the
Congregational Church Building Society have entered into
affihation under the same Executive Committee and General
Secretary. Some minor steps of a technical nature still
needed to meet the Council's instructions will be taken at
this meeting.

2. The Sunday School and Publishing Society deeming
action on its part looking toward the creation of a Sunday
School Society in New York inadvisable in view of legal
considerations has made the Executive Committee of the
Congregational Home Missionary Society and the Congrega-
tional Church Building Society its sub-committee on mission
extension work and Secretary Burton its representative in
that field. It has thus secured in essence the end sought by
the Council's action. Recommendations as to steps still
required will be found later in this report.

3. The field force in religious education consisting of the

138

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 139

Social Service Secretary and six of the staff of the C. S. S.
& P, S. (the remainder being connected with the department
of Sunday School mission work) are now related to the allied
Boards in Boston in the manner contemplated by the Council
except that financial considerations have made it impossible
to put the entire force on the staff of the Education Society.

This is mainly a technical matter so far as administrative
efficiency is concerned and can be readily changed when con-
ditions permit.

Other transfers of work have been effected as planned, the
Home Missionary Society taking over the churches among
Southern Highlanders from the American Missionary Asso-
ciation, the Education Society taking the Schauffler School
and the Chicago Institutes from the Home Missionary Society
and Atlanta Seminary from the American Missionary Associa-
tion, while the American Missionary Association has taken
the schools among Mexicans and Mormons from the Congre-
gational Education Society.

In the changes thus far made no subsidies from one society
to another have been necessary except that the Education
Society has paid the American Missionary Association $16,000
for the year ending October 1, 1917. Further financial ad-
justments will need to be effected but it is beheved they will
not present grave difficulties.

It is a matter for hearty gratitude that these changes
have been brought about with so large a measure of unanimity
of judgment and with such substantial harmony of spirit.
Not less noteworthy and gratifying is the fact that though
the process of making these readjustments has extended
over a series of years and has of necessity made a large claim
upon the time and thought of missionary leaders, there has
been no slackening of effort in any department and for most
of the organizations concerned some increase of income.

These and other favorable features of the situation confirm
the Commission in its belief that the plan of readjustment
adopted in 1915 is projected upon right fines. It has printed
in a leaflet called " An Adequate National Missionary Organi-
zation " an analysis of the aims sought in the present or-
ganization and of the reasons for the adoption of its various
features. This will be sent on request.

140 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

The Commission asks from all the churches of our fellow-
ship an increase of prayer for these world-wide responsibilities
and such generous and sacrificial gifts as shall speedily lift
the annual total from the $1,500,000 now received to the
$2,000,000 goal set before us in the Apportionment Plan. It
asks too that the young men and women of the churches will
freshly consider the call to life service in mission fields, at
home and abroad. Let each year of this Tercentenary Period
record an increase in the devotion of life and treasure until
in 1920 we are able to say — " We have workers enough to
carry strongly all our present obligations and income enough
to meet their needs."

Completion of the Process

As already stated, a few minor steps are still required in
order to complete the task undertaken. None of these calls
for special mention except those related to our Sunday School
work. Assuming that the Council will desire to know the
grounds upon which rest the recommendations to be offered
later, the Commission offers a brief analysis of the situation.

There are two obvious types of service which may be
rendered the Sunday School interests of a denomination by
national agencies.

(a) An educational service including the furnishing of printed
helps, the introduction of sound standards of teaching
and the formation of true ideals of the ends to be sought
in Sunday School work.

(6) A missionary service consisting of the planting and foster-
ing of new Sunday Schools. This may be done by the
national agency unaided or it may be done by that
agency in cooperation with individual local churches.

These two services have in our denomination been com-
bined under the care of the same agency, viz., the Congre-
gational Sunday School and Publishing Society. Notable work
has been done in both fields. It is in no sense a criticism of
men or measures to point out that there are to be found in
the history of recent years distinct reasons for thinking that
the alignment above named is not the wisest possible. These
are: 'UjJSdi

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 141,

1. The patent overlapping of effort as between the Sunday
School mission force and the Home Mission force. This
overlapping resulting always in waste of effort and sometimes
as well in personal friction has compelled the introduction in
many of the newer states of a sj'stem of joint representatives,
the Sunday School force and the Home Mission force becoming
partly or wholly identical. While this has been a wise step
to take, it has afforded only a partial remedy, for reasons to
be given later

2. The relatively small development of branch Sunday
Schools in the older parts of the country and of the spirit of
aggressive extension among our Sunday Schools in general
is conspicuous. As a result, in the territory in which fully
four-fifths of our churches are found there has been only a
minimum of growth in the number of Sunday Schools or the
number of scholars enrolled.

3. An all too tardy acceptance of high ideals and adoption
of sound methods by our Sunday Schools. A painfully large
number still use lesson helps of an inferior type, sing cheap
hymns set to cheaper music and hold in defiance all the laws
of pedagogy and spiritual achievement in their methods of
teaching and action. If proof of this is needed by any one it
may be seen in some measure from the fact that the net growth
of the membership of the denomination during the period
1910-1916, viz., 64,714, was drawn by letter from other
denominations to the extent of 52,041 persons. If we had
been markedly successful in moulding the thought and
character of the children in our Sunday Schools, the accessions
to membership from that source would have entirely changed
the figures just named.

These and collateral weaknesses in our existing situation,
let it be said again, are not a reflection either upon the policy
or the force of the Congregational Sunday School and Pub-
hshing Society. They have done the best that could be done
with a faulty system. Their ideals have been high, their labors
abundant and their methods, as a rule, well chosen. But they
have not been so related to other denominational activities
as to enable them effectively to mould the Sunday School Hfe
of the denomination.

Some perception of the difficulties just named led the Com-

142 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

mission to recommend to the Council of 1915 that the two
forms of service, the educational and the missionary, be
separated, the former being discharged by the Sunday School
and Publishing Society and the Education Society working
in a coordinated relation and the latter by a Sunday School
extension agency closely articulated with the extension
agencies (Home Mission and Church Building) located in New
York. This recommendation is now reaffirmed and resolutions
will be offered providing in detail for the complete adoption of
the plan.

The following statements will give, it is hoped, despite the
highly technical nature of the problem in hand, a clear picture
of the actual working of the plan contemplated by the reso-
lutions just referred to and of the way in which it may be
expected to correct the defects of our present system and in
process of time enable us to accomplish the larger results for
which our Sunday School leaders have been striving.

First of all let us get before our eyes the two forces which
are to represent us and the functions they are to discharge.
In Boston, connected with the Publishing Society (from whose
title it is suggested that the words " Sunday School " be
dropped), there will be as now a staff of editors engaged com-
prehensively in the production of printed matter to aid the
churches in developing a thoroughgoing program of religious
education. In this printed matter Sunday School helps of
various .types will have a prominent place.

Working side by side with these and under the same General
Secretary and Board of Directors, but having their formal
connection with the Congregational Education Society, will
be a staff of field specialists in religious education. Some of
these will confine their work to a particular department.
Three such departments are in immediate view, viz;. Mission-
ary Education, Student Welfare, and Social Service. Others
will cover a wider field dealing with the whole range of the
educational work of the local church, including organization,
worship, evangelistic training, the enlistment of children and
young people in expressional activities, etc. In the service
rendered by this group the Sunday School will naturally have
a prominent place. All field workers of every department,
will aid, as may be feasible, in the editorial task, their direct

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 143

contact with the churches enabhng them in a peculiar way
to know and to meet the local needs.

To the educational staff thus created, the churches and
Sunday Schools of the denomination will look for leadership
in the total field of religious education. The setting of stan-
dards, the proposal of methods and the creation of helps will
rest with it. Moreover, this staff will be charged with the
duty of initiating and prosecuting all effort for developing the
educational effort of the churches. In so doing they will use
many agencies as later indicated. But the original responsi-
bility and authority in this field will rest with them.

In New York there will be three extension organizations;
the Home Missionary Society having a field force of general
workers numbering well toward a hundred; the Sunday
School Society having a limited field force working exclusively
in Sunday School Mission lines but having also a share in the
direction of the activities of a much larger number who also
serve as home mission representatives; and the Church
Building Society with a small field staff.

These three agencies with a single General Secretary and
Board of Directors will be comprehensively responsible for
the whole range of our extension work, which means, it should
be observed, not merely the planting of new organizations,
but supporting the weak spots in our structure and fostering
wherever feasible the interests of expansion.

With these two forces before us, it remains to ask what
relation is to exist between them. That the relation must
be intimate and reciprocally helpful goes without saying. It
is out of the question for the mission agencies of a denomina-
tion to do their work in unrelated fashion. But in just what
way can each serve the other? On the side of the educational
force, the service rendered must definitely recognize the fact
that while the church and Sunday School are educational
forces, they are such for a specific and unique purpose, namely,
that of winning disciples to Jesus Christ and building them
up in Him. The evangelistic motive must therefore be
implicit in all educational activities and their plans must be
shaped to reenforce the efforts of the extension workers at
every point.

Quite as distinct and much larger in volume is the service

144 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

which the extension force can render the educational workers.
Not only must it recognize the value of educational ideals and
processes but it must strive in the most definite way to give
them effective lodgment among the churches. Each member
of the extension force and the force as a whole will stand in a
lieutenant relationship to the educational specialists. They
will loyally accept the leadership of these specialists and
endeavor to carry out their plans. They will thus constitute
an important though by no means an exclusive channel through
which these speciahsts may reach the churches. How neces-
sary such use of the extension force will be appears at once
when it is remembered that a little group of eight or ten or
twelve field educational specialists cannot possibly reach in
personal contact six thousand churches scattered over
6,000,000 square miles of territory. In the recent past there
have been for the five thousand churches of the North between
the Atlantic and the Missouri River only five or six men thus
engaged. Inadequate as is this force, it is hardly feasible to
increase it at any early day. It must multiply itself through
the aid of men whose primary responsibility is in another
field but whose daily contact with the churches will none the
less enable them to exercise a powerful educational influence.
It remains to say what in the judgment of the Commission
may be expected in the long run to result from the effective
working of the plan outlined.

1. A thoroughly unified organization of the total leader-
ship of the denomination in the field of religious education.

2. A broad and balanced program on the part of that leader-
ship, the field of Sunday School pedagogy being given its
proper setting in the total educational task of the church.

3. A similar completely unified organization of the exten-
sion force with elimination of occasion for personal friction
and loss of power.

4. An intimate interlocking of effort between the two
forces, each having recognized initiative and authority within
its own field, but lending itself to the other for supplementary
service and moral support.

5. A distinct increase in the outreach of Sunday Schools
connected with our older and more resourceful churches to
the end that they may, whether through branch schools or

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 145

their own numerical growth, more adequately serve the
population which in most communities is steadily growing,
being reenforced from many lands and tongues.

6. Such continued prosecution of the work of planting
Sunday Schools in frontier regions as the future development
of our country may call for.

7. The lifting of the level of the whole life of our churches
of every type through their closer hnking with a total denomi-
national program, in which a richer worship and a broader
educational ideal shall be matched by missionary outreach
and evangelistic fidelity.

Deputation Study

In a second section of thi^ report the Commission presents
with a w^ord of introduction an extended review of Congre-
gationahsm in the South, submitted by a Deputation, who
studied our work in that region in the spring of 1916. It is
believed that a careful reading of this review will reveal the
large possibilities of this feature of the Commission's service.

Similar Deputations should be sent as soon as expedient to
visit the colleges affiliated with our churches, to studj^ our
work among Indians, Mexicans and Orientals, to examine our
Home Mission interests on the frontier, in cities and among
immigrants and to visit our missions in lands beyond the sea.
The workers in all these fields will be encouraged by this
evidence of denominational interest in them, the executives
of our mission boards will have the benefit of the impressions
of those who see their responsibihties from a detached view-
point and the churches will be made more largely acquainted
with the nature of the tasks they are prosecuting. Such a
series of deputation visits will call for the expenditure of an
amount of money not now available. The Commission is
reluctant at this time to recommend measures for securing
such larger sum. But it does ask that the matter be earnestly
considered and if its judgment of the importance of this
question be confirmed by the Council, that early action be
taken in conformity therewith. Certain recommendations
related to the report of the Deputation to the South will be
later submitted.

146 the commission on missions [1917

The Tercentenary Program

At the meeting in 1915 the Commission presented to the
Council in general terms its judgment that the Tercentenary
of the landing of the Pilgrims should be celebrated not only
by a meeting of the International Council in 1920, but by a
fresh dedication of life and treasure to the work of the King-
dom of Christ. The Council approved this judgment and
instructed the Commission to develop its plans and make
report in 1917. At that time it had not occurred to the Com-
mission that there would be any necessity of aggressive
activity prior to the meeting of 1917. Not many weeks
passed, however, .before it became evident that there would
be important advantages in inaugurating certain forms of
effort at once. After consultation with the Council's Execu-
tive Committee, its Commission on Evangelism and the
Executives of our Mission Boards, the Commission reached
the conclusion in March, 1916, that it would be carrying out
the spirit of the Council's instructions in proposing to the
churches immediate enhstment in a " Tercentenary Program."
This proposal has been received with great favor and after a
year of active effort in the promotion of the program, it is
believed that a decided majority of the churches have in one
measure or another put themselves in line with this plan for a
concerted emphasis upon certain great duties.

The nature of the Tercentenary Program and the suggestions
presented to the churches as to methods of carrying it out
have been so widely announced that space is not taken in
this report to describe them. The financial aspects of the
matter have been placed before you by the Executive Com-
mittee of the Council. The detailed conduct of the effort to
promote the program has, during the past biennium by
request of this Commission, been assumed by a special body
known as the Tercentenary Commission. For the future, in
view of the reduced amount of work involved and in view of
possible confusion with the Pilgrim Memorial Fund Com-
mission, later recommended, it appears wiser that the first
four items of the Tercentenary Program be under the care
of a sub-committee of the Commission on Missions, aided by
a cooperating committee of missionary executives.

1917] the commission on missions 147

The Pilgrim Memorial Fund

Pursuant to instructions of the last Council, the Com-
mission has announced that one of the aims of the Tercen-
tenary period would be the creation of a great Memorial
Fund. As instructed, the Commission has not committed the
denomination in any way as to the amount or purpose of
this fund and now brings its recommendations on these points
before the Council for its action.

A very large amount of time has been given this subject
and the advice of many groups of denominational leaders
has been sought. Naturally there was a wide diversity of
judgment as to the amount which might suitably be chosen
as a goal. In fixing upon $5,000,000 as the sum to be recom-
mended, the Commission has named what is practically a
minimum figure. Very few, if any, of those consulted, beheved
that a smaller amount should be selected. It is believed that
on the one hand $5,000,000 represents in a dignified and
worthy way the significance of the anniversary. On the other
hand, it is entirely within the abiUty of the denomination if
there be a genuine and earnest desire to secure it.

As to the purpose to which the proceeds of such a fund
should from year to year be devoted, there was at the outset
a similar division of opinion. Most of those having to do with
the matter began with the presumption that the fund should
be composite in nature, all our denominational missionary
obhgations being included among its objects. As the dis-
cussions of the past three years have proceeded, there has
been a steady swing of conviction toward the plan of choosing
some single cause and devoting all the proceeds of the fund
to its promotion. The Commission came at length with sub-
stantial unanimity to this view and beHeves that the great
majority of those whose thought upon the matter has been
ascertained are of the same mind. The grounds on which
a recommendation in this sense is offered are mainly
three.

1. It is a practical impossibility to frame a composite
objective which shall have proportion and logical reason for
existence. An artificial and arbitrary quahty would neces-
sarily mark it. Moreover, the claims of the various organiza-
tions, national and state, missionary, administrative and

148 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

educational, are so numerous as to be entirely bewildering.
It may be doubted whether anj^ two persons trying to combine
them into a composite goal could agree upon the same result.

2. There is every reason to believe that those to whom
appeal shall be made for gifts will be interested in a single
clear-cut and outstanding cause much more promptly and
vitally than in a blend of causes.

3. Lastly and chiefly, there is before the denomination at
the present time a long-standing and pressing obUgation
whose discharge will go farther to promote the welfare of all
the interests to which we stand committed than would any
effort directly aimed toward that result. This obligation is
that of giving dignity to the ministry of the Gospel of Christ
and thus promoting not only the effectiveness of the men
constituting that ministry but also the self-respect of the
denomination and its consciousness of the high and sacred
mission of the church of the living God. Many things must
enter into the endeavor to meet this demand. All should be
faced as opportunity offers. At the present moment, however,
one form of effort has forced itself upon the attention of
nearly all Christian communions. It is the eiffort to make at
least a modest provision for the old age of the ministry. The
churches have everywhere become at least partially conscious
that to ask men to spend their hves in the work of the ministry
on an annual income barely sufficing to cover the minimum
needs of a family and then to leave them in their early old age
without occupation or income is to declare in terms emphatic
and unmistakable their low estimate of the message which
these men have been declaring and of the ends for which the
church professes to exist.

The obvious and immediate way to translate this conscious-
ness into appropriate action is to raise a sum of money suffi-
ciently large and representing sufficient sacrifice so as to be
in itself an effective testimony against the estimate just
named.

Such a fund would have concrete, practical results of the
most important kind. It would hearten the ministers, lengthen
their days of fruitful work and encourage young men to enter
their ranks. It would thus put behind our churches, our
mission work and our colleges, a new impulse of hope and

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 149

power. It would increase our primary assets of personality.
It would impel us to new endeavors and strengthen us for
their accomplishment.

With the view of the case just outlined, it will at once be
seen that to the Pilgrim Memorial Fund Commission later
recommended will be entrusted a task weighty and sacred
in an extraordinary degree. With them will rest the duty of
devising plans whose wisdom shall carry blessing to a long
line of the generations which come after. They must devise
ways and means for pressing these plans forward and then
must lead us all in effecting their realization.

In fixing upon the Annuity Fund for Congregational
Ministers as the object to which the proceeds of the amount
raised for the Pilgrim Memorial Fund shall be devoted, the
Commission has naturally canvassed various related questions.
It has, for instance, weighed with care the probable relation
.between the sums needed for Ministerial Relief and for
Annuity payments. Recognizing that under any develop-
ment of events there will be for an indefinite period to come
some ministers on whose behalf protection against death,
disability or old age must be made by Relief Funds, it appears
fair to anticipate that an adequate total of such protection
will be provided by the income of endowment funds, national
and state, already amounting to nearly one and one half
million dollars, by legacies, and by current gifts. Not only
will the sums thus available be much larger than in the past
but the draft upon them will be greatly reduced because of
the large and presumably growing number of men whose
needs are met from the Annuity Fund.

The Commission has also re-examined with minute and
painstaking care the plan of Annuities adopted in 1913. As
a result there has been reached an emphatic and unanimous
'conviction that the plan we have launched not only has a
sound actuarial basis but in its adaptation to the needs and
conditions of our denomination has positive elements of
strength even greater than have been- recognized. Certain
modifications of detail which will be proposed at this meeting
by the Annuity Board have the Commission's endorse-
ment.

In view of the far-reaching and profound importance of the

150 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

subject, the Commission has taken steps through a special
communication to ascertain the mind of delegates to the
Council concerning certain possible expansions in our pension
poUcy which have been proposed and discussed.

Missionary Income

It is about ten years since the Apportionment Plan was
adopted in our denomination. It seems a fitting time to
review the situation in which we find ourselves and to consider
what advance steps should be taken. For six years past the
gifts made to our denominational agencies have appeared in
the Year Book as reported by the treasurers of those agencies.
The figures for these years are as follows —

1911 $1,253,372 1914 $1,237,347

1912 1,217,520 1915 1,233,990

1913 1,245,998 1916 1,321,977

While the gifts credited the churches under the Apportion-
ment Plan thus show but slight increase, there has been con-
siderable growth in the actual receipts of the Boards from
living donors. This has been due to augmented effort on the
part of the Boards to secure personal contributions. Such
effort has been forced upon them by the failure to receive any
distinct increase of regular church contributions. The Com-
mission does not believe that the solicitation of these personal
gifts has in any considerable measure affected such contri-
butions. It is confident that no plan for securing missionary
income can wisely ignore or seek to eliminate the element of
direct contributions of individuals to specific causes. On the
contrary, effort should be directed to the increasing of these
gifts under plans sufficiently broad-visioned and flexible to
enable the churches to discharge their corporate duty in this
field. If it be asked why personal donations should not be
credited under the Apportionment Plan, it must be replied
that not infrequently the donor does 'not desire such credit
and in other cases the church connection of the giver is not
known. There are, moreover, many cases where individual
gifts are for special objects not included in the current budget.

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 151

Last of all, it should be said that it is of doubtful wisdom that
the churches should seek to credit to themselves the ex-
ceptional gifts of resourceful and generous people.

As to the educational effect of the Apportionment Plan,
it cannot be doubted that it has promoted among the churches
a consciousness of their responsibility for the mission under-
takings which look to them for support, has secured a more
just proportioning of gifts between different causes and has
in some degree encouraged orderly and thoughtful methods of
gathering mission funds. It has also stabilized the contri-
butions from year to year taken as a whole.

What can be done to put new life and purpose into our
financial system and to enable us to increase our gifts in a
degree at least comparable to the growth of our membership
and the increase of wealth? In the endeavor to secure the
reaction of many minds to the questions which center around
this theme, the Commission called an Apportionment
Convention for the day previous to the meeting of the
Council. The aim of any action taken concerning the
Apportionment Plan must be to conserve the advantages to
which allusion has been made and to escape the well known
evils such as the tendency to regard the apportionment as a
maximum, as a barrier against special gifts, or as a church
function whose demands should be met in the easiest feasible
way and then dismissed from the mind. If in some fair
measure this can be established and the Apportionment Plan
be given vitality and constructive power, it can still serve the
cause of missions. Otherwise it will prove a drag and an en-
cumbrance.

Slight changes will be recommended in the division of the
$2,000,000 goal between the different causes. It should be
understood, as stated in former reports, that the percentages
constituting the national schedule are not uniformly applied
in allocating amounts to the different states. Furthermore,
state committees have been accustomed to make further
changes in framing their schedules for the churches. We are
thus at a far remove from a uniform system throughout the
denomination. Some effort has been made to secure greater
uniformity and such effort should be continued.

152 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

At the last Council meeting, the Commission was instructed
to arrange if possible for a Secretary to give his entire time to
the Apportionment Plan. In the fall of 1916 Rev. W. W.
Scudder, D.D., was secured for this service, the major part
of his salary and expenses being provided by the Mission
Boards. For the year beginning October 1, 1917, he will
continue upon this task, the Mission Boards providing only
his salary and travehng expenses. Office rent, clerical aid
and miscellaneous costs will be paid from the Council treasury.
To secure economy of effort, his activities have been closely
articulated with the general effort for promoting the Ter-
centenary Program, of which it will be remembered the
Apportionment Plan is a prominent feature.

A special committee of the Commission has been for some
months making a special study of Apportionment questions.
The results of its study will be of service to Dr. Scudder in
prosecuting his task. He will also have the aid of an advisory
committee appointed by the conference of missionary secre-
taries.

Women's Organizations

More attention has been given the work of organizations
representing the women of the churches than in the previous
biennium. The annual budget of these organizations has be-
come an imposing sum aggregating not much less than
$600,000, some part of which is from endowments, legacies
and gifts for special uses. The close cooperative relations
between those agencies and the National Boards continue,
so that there is essential unity in our entire mission structure.

The Woman's Board of Missions celebrates its fiftieth
anniversary this year and the W^oman's Board of Missions of
the Interior the same anniversary next year. Each has been
for some time engaged in the raising of a Golden Anniversary
Building Fund of a quarter of a million dollars. The Woman's
Board of Missions lacks only $30,000 of the total and the
Woman's Board of Missions of the Interior lacks $155,000.
Hearty cooperation is urged to enable both to reach the goal.
The Woman's Home Missionary Federation, taking time by the
forelock, began nearly three years ago the raising of $125,000
as a Tercentenary Fund for the Schauffler Training School.

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 153

About $33,000 have been secured. This task also should be
pushed forward to a speedy and successful end.

Inasmuch as the various state Home Mission Unions and
the National Federation just mentioned which unites them
all do not administer mission activities on the field but place
their funds in the hands of the National and State Boards, no
separate column for their gifts has hitherto appeared in the
Year Book. By agreement between your Commission and
the Executive Committee of th^ Council, this defect will be
corrected in the next issue. Opposite each church will appear,
among other things, the amount given to the State Woman's
Home Mission organization by that church. The sum thus
recorded will, however, appear also in the other missionary
columns but distributed among the various causes supported
by the Women's Unions. Otherwise it would be impossible
to make a complete showing either by churches or states of
the amounts given for the various causes.

An arrangement has been effected between the national
home land boards and the Federation by which the latter is
to receive from funds furnished by its constituent state unions
a small annual budget for the maintenance of a national
office. This arrangement, which is already in force with Miss
Edith Scammon as Secretary in charge, promises to open a
new era for Woman's Home Mission work in our denomination.

Office Methods
Various questions of administration have received the
attention of the Commission. Among these was a -careful
inquiry concerning the methods of office organization in force
in the offices of the National Council and the Mission Boards.
This inquiry covered questions of rent, clerical salaries, va-
cations, checking of receipts, safe-guarding of stocks of
stamps and stamped envelopes, methods of audit, etc. The
Commission is gratified to be able to report not only a re-
markable similarity of method as between the different offices,
but that the methods in use are in harmony with up-to-date
office practice. The denomination may be assured not only
that the trust funds held or used by its mission agencies are
carefully safeguarded but that their business activities are
efficiently and economically conducted.

154 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

A Uniform Retiring Age
At the meeting of the Commission in March, 1917, the
following resolution was adopted :

Whereas, there are in the service of the National
Council and the Mission Boards as secretaries,
treasurers, superintendents, et cetera, well toward
one hundred persons whose tenure of office is nor-
mally stable and extended;

And whereas, the duties of these positions are in
a high degree ejiacting and laborious, calling for
fullness of bodily as well as mental vigor;
And whereas, the question of the age of retirement
is often a perplexing one, both to the incumbent and
the organization which he serves;
Resolved, that in the judgment of the Commission
on Missions there would be advantage in the adoption
by all agencies of a uniform retiring age.

Pursuant to the above the sub-committee on Administra-
tion has requested representatives of these agencies to meet
with it for conference upon this subject, including collateral
questions such as pensions for those who are retired. The
Mission Boards have responded with interest to this pro-
posal and some progress has been made toward working out
a plan of action. There is nothing final, however, to report
at the present time. As will be seen, the question, while
related to the Annuity Fund for ministers, is in no sense
identified with it.

Publicity Matters

Attention was called in the last report to the importance
and complexity of the publicity or promotional department
of our mission agencies. If the church of today is to maintain
its interest in missions and the church of tomorrow be trained
for a larger interest, there must be ceaseless effort in this
field. Through every available channel information and
inspiration must be imparted. This means that scores of
persons and millions of printed pages must every year speak
the message of missions. To do this with greatest economy

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 155

and highest effectiveness constitutes an administrative prob-
lem of an extremely intricate nature.

The Commission has given much thought to this matter,
hoping to render some assistance to our mission executives
in their publicity task. Three questions thus studied may be
mentioned here.

1, The co-ordination of the efforts of speakers in the field.
There are about fifty State Conferences holding annual meet-
ings and about two hundred and fifty District Association
meetings either annually or semi-annually. At all these our
mission interests need to be presented. In the pulpits of
local churches there is equal need. Moreover, women's
societies and other organizations within the church call for
the services of missionary speakers. Ideally, therefore, there
ought to be made within the denomination perhaps twenty
or thirty thousand missionary addresses each year, of which
a considerable percentage should be by those having first
hand knowledge of the mission field, either as missionaries
or executives. It is indeed probable that as many as six or
eight thousand addresses are given by these workers as things
now stand. To organize such an amount of activity, to see
to it that as many addresses as possible of the best type
possible are given in the places where most needed, with due
effort to secure a large hearing, is an undertaking of a most
baffling nature.

For some years special efforts have been directed by mission
executives toward the end described. Of late a standing com-
mittee of their number called the Committee on Promotion
has been studying the question. Certain advance steps have
been taken and some progress made. But there remains
much to be desired. There is considerable overlapping and
still more of overlooking. Some churches, associations and
conferences have more speakers than are needed. Some are
neglected. There is no ready solution of the manifold diffi-
culties inherent in the problem. Only by patient and long-
continued effort can the higher measure of effectiveness sought
be attained.

2. The wise organization of the magazine output of the
mission agencies. In its last report the Commission described
these magazines and stated its conviction that they should

156 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

be consolidated into a single periodical. Taking the matter
up afresh during the present biennium it has had repeated and
extended conferences with officers of the Mission Boards.
It finds that while the Home Boards are not averse to the idea
of consolidation, the representatives of the American Board
and of the Woman's Boards regard such a step as certain to
prove disastrous in the extreme to the foreign mission interests
of the denomination.

The Commission cannot on any grounds within its own
knowledge share this conviction. On the contrary, it believes
that a single magazine representing all interests would be a
distinct improvement upon the existing plan in long range
results for the whole circle of interests involved. It is, how-
ever, entirely sure that the denomination should be guided
so far as present action is concerned by the judgment of the
American Board and Woman's Boards executives. In ex-
pressing tliis view, it is influenced not merely by its high
estimate of the wisdom and devotion of those executives but
also by what it deems a fundamental principle of representa-
tive democracy, viz., that those entrusted with responsible
affairs should be given a free hand to the fullest possible
degree compatible with the primary responsibility of the
supporting body. Just as democracies cannot allow any man
or group of men to exercise final authority in matters of com-
mon concern, so they cannot lightly overrule the mature and
confident judgment of those whom they have asked to guard
important interests.

It should be added that the American "Board and the
Woman's Boards, influenced by a generous desire to aid in
solving a perplexing problem, have proposed, if such be the
wish of the Council, and have already taken steps toward, a
plan to accomplish a combination of their magazines, the
Missionary Herald, Life and Light and Mission Studies.
This proposal on their part is not made without anxiety lest
the interests of their work shall suffer; there are practical
difficulties yet to be solved. But they are willing to make
the effort for the promotion of the larger end in view. It
should be clearly understood that this offer was made in order
to preserve a separate foreign missionary magazine in the
denomination. The Commission believes that such consoli-

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 157

dation will be a decided advance step and offers a recom-
mendation of approval.

It is the advice of the Commission that the Council give its
hearty endorsement to the two missionary magazines thus
contemplated and that for the period immediately before us
all pastors and churches be urged to push their circulation
with all possible vigor. *

3. A final publicity question centers around the meetings
of the Mission Boards in the years when the Council does not
meet. For more than a decade it has been growingly difficult
to secure a satisfactory attendance at such meetings, either
from the communities where they are held or from our con-
stituency at large. This has been felt by some organizations
much less than others, the American Board having had ap-
proximate success in maintaining the former level of atten-
dance and interest.

There is some possibility that in the case of the American
Missionary Association, and perhaps the other organizations,
the problem ma}^ have become more serious through the
change in the voting constituency under the new Constitution
of the Council. It is manifestly impossible for the Council
delegates to attend at their own expense from three to five
annual missionary meetings in the alternate years. While
this fact has no unfavorable bearing upon the conduct of our
missionary business, since all major items are expected to be
passed upon at the time of the biennial meeting, it does have
extremely serious bearing upon the educational value of the
meetings of the alternate years.

The Commission does not believe that the data in hand
warrant a positive judgment as to the course to be pursued.
After careful consideration and conference with missionary
officials, it is inclined to believe that best results will be ob-
tained by holding three meetings each alternate year under
the auspices respectively of the American Board, the Ex-
tension Boards and the American Missionary Association,
those meetings being so distributed geographically as to make
direct appeal to entirely different regions. It also believes
that while these meetings should continue to be national in
scope, all intensive effort for securing attendance should be
Hmited to a radius of two or three hundred miles. Under this

158 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

plan the whole denomination will gradually be covered by a
series of regional meetings, while at the same time nothing
will be done to discourage the interest of those who are wilhng
to attend from a greater distance.

In the plan just outlined, no mention is made of the interests
of rehgious education and ministerial aid. At first sight it
mignt seem wise to propose that the agencies representing
these interests meet in connection with one or the other of
the three meetings. There are, however, difficulties connected
with such a plan more serious than in the case of organizations
closely kindred in type of work and grouped under a single
management, as in the case of the Extension Boards. For
this reason and also because the Publishing Society, the
Education Society and the Board of Ministerial Aid serve
all the interests represented by the Boards, it appears to the
Commission wiser that in the programs of the three annual
meetings above recommended place be made for the interests
just named by invitation of the agencies responsible for their
arrangement.

Work for Negroes

In the report of the Deputation to the South emphatic
attention is drawn to the meagre support given by our churches
to the work of the American Missionary Association among
the Negroes of the South. In the judgment of the Commission,
the language used is none too strong nor the step proposed in
any sense an extreme one. There is an inheritance of obhga-
tion in this field which we dare not ignore. The denomination
which furnished pioneer champions of freedom for the slaves,
which led the way in planting schools among the poverty-
stricken and helpless freedmen, which proudly claims to be
superior to distinctions of race and color, must not slacken in
its zeal for the welfare of the 10,000,000 of Africans who are
slowly and painfully pushing their way out into a larger life.
The need of larger resources is immediate, peremptory and
oppressive. The plants and equipment of our schools are
sadly inadequate. The salary scale of the teachers is shame-
fully low. Funds for needed extensions are entirely lacking.
There ought to be added during the coming year by special

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 159

gifts for the current use of the American Missionary Associa-
tion not less than $50,000. The Commission hopes that the
Council will give unanimous approval to the resolution sub-
mitted on this point and that the churches will vigorously put
it into effect.

National and State Organizations

The process of developing our national denominational
organizations has been paralleled by a similar development
in many of the states. The necessity of mutual understanding
and logical articulation between these two sets of organiza-
tions has long been evident. In some degree these ends have
been secured. Ten years ago the home mission interests found
a modus vivendi which satisfactorily continues to the present.
Other interests have effected provisional adjustments here and
there. There is great need, however, for a comprehensive
study of the situation, the adoption of principles having
bearing upon its main aspects and the apphcation of those
principles as far and as fast as experience reveals the way.
The Commission has thus far been too heavily burdened with
other matters to give this subject a major place in its delibera-
tions. It is prepared, however, to give the subject special
attention during the coming biennium in conference with
state leaders and with any other Commission of the Council
charged with cognate matters.

Rev. W. R. Campbell. Pres. Henry C. King,

Pres. D. J. Cowling, Mr. Roger Leavitt,

Mr. H. W. Darling, Rev. Charles S. Mills,

Miss Sarah L. Day, Rev. Edward M. Noyes,

Rev. Wm. H. Day, Rev. Carl S. Patton,

Rev. Albert P. Fitch, Rev. W. L. Phillips,

Mr. Burton P. Gray, Mr. John R. Rogers.

Rev. Archibald Hadden, Mr. Arthur L. Shipman,

Rev. H. C. Herring, Rev. J. T. Stocking,

Mr. Dyer B. Holmes, Rev. Claeence F. Swift,

Mr. Frank Kimball, Mrs. Williston Walker,
Dr. L. C. Warner.

REPORT OF COMMISSION ON MISSIONS

Section 2
Congregationalism in the South

In submitting to the Congregational Churches, with its
approval, the report which follows, the Commission on Mis-
sions desires to make a statement concerning the purpose of
the appointment of the Deputation to the South and the
results of its inquiries. The Commission, having been created
by the National Council for the purpose of aiding the denomi-
national missionary agencies in developing and coordinating
their work, has felt from the beginning that the proper dis-
charge of its task must include a study of the activities carried
forward in the various fields. It was soon perceived that this
would mean among other things personal contact with work
and workers through duly chosen representatives.

Pursuant to this conviction, and as a first step in what it
is hoped will prove an extended series of visits to those who
represent us in different parts of the world, a Deputation of
four men was appointed last March to visit Congregational
Churches in the South. The persons so appointed were:
Hastings H. Hart, LL.D., Director of the Department of
Child Helping of the Russell Sage Foundation, New York
City; Professor E. C. Norton, Dean of Pomona College,
Claremont, California; Mr. Charles W. Davidson, a business
man of Boston and a member of the Congregational Church,
Newtonville, Massachusetts; and Rev. Hubert C. Herring,
D.D., Secretary of the National Council.

The purpose of the trip was threefold —

1. To convey to our fellow Congregationalists in the
South the greetings of the denomination and to assure them
of its sense of the significance of the work they have done
and are doing.

2. To gather impressions concerning local situations,
general tendencies, unmet needs, questions of pohcy, et
cetera, and so far as these impressions should be deemed rele-
vant to the work of our mission agencies to report them to
the officers and directors of those organizations.

160

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 161

3. To communicate to our constituency at large their
judgments concerning the progress of our southern work
with some appraisal of its importance and estimate of its
possibilities.

The Deputation entered upon its task March 16, 1916,
and continued until April 22. The points visited were in
Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisi-
ana Mississippi, and Tennessee. The services of the three
gentlemen not connected with the Commission were without
cost to the denomination. For this expression of generous
interest in our common undertakings on their part and on the
part of the institutions with which they are connected
the Commission desires to express its hearty gratitude. The
expenses of the trip were borne by the Council treasury.

Inasmuch as the subjoined report deals only with the third
of the duties above suggested it should be stated that the
Deputation has reported to the Commission that it visited
some twenty schools and fifty churches and in the course of
its trip gave nearly one hundred and fifty addresses before
groups, larger and smaller, of our southern fellowship. In
order to cover so large an area and visit even briefly so many
institutions it was necessary for the Deputation to divide,
usuallj'' into two groups, the whole party coming together
only at specially important points. It was thus able as fully
as the period covered by the trip permitted, to discharge
the first of the duties above named.

As to the second, the Deputation has placed in the hands
of the missionary organizations representing Congregation-
alism in the South sorne twenty written memoranda dealing
with questions of policy, local situations, inter-relationships,
et cetera. In addition, personal conferences have been held
between members of the Deputation and officials of the
.Congregational Home Missionary Society and the American
Missionary Association, the two agencies mainly responsible
for the conduct of our work in the South; and with reference
to one matter of large importance with the Congregational
Education Society.

The Commission earnestly hopes that this report may have
a wide reading and that our pastors and churches everywhere
will, with quickened interest in this important portion of our

162 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

denominational responsibility, take resolute steps to give it
that large place in their thoughts and plans and support to
which it is entitled. Congregationalism has been admirably
disinclined to press its interests in any quarter for the sake
of denominational advantage. In times past this disinclina-
tion has sometimes been in danger of passing into a mini-
mizing of our denominational obligations. Presumably the
present is not free from that danger. Our defence against it
must be found in a constantly renewed realization of the
importance of the principles for which we stand, the limitless
need of our fellow-men in every quarter of the globe and the
sacrificial service to which we are summoned by our divine
Master.

For the Commission on Missions,

Henry Churchill King,

Chairman.
Jay T. Stocking,

Assistant Secretary.

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 163

REPORT OF DEPUTATION TO SOUTHERN CON-
GREGATIONAL SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES

To the Commission on Missions:

Your Deputation in presenting to you, and through you
to the Congregational Churches, the impressions of its recent
trip, desires to express its gratitude for a privilege which,
though it involved exacting labor, brought abundant reward
in enlargement of acquaintance and wider knowledge of the
work which is being done for the upbuilding of the Kingdom
of Christ. The generous welcome and multiphed courtesies
extended by fellow-Congregationalists throughout the South
made the journey a constant pleasure.

Southern Congregationalism must necessarily be studied
in sharply divided departments. The necessity of this will
be at once perceived when it is remembered that we have
churches composed of Negroes and churches composed of
white people with their separate state organizations and schools
of every grade from kindergarten to college for both races.
Moreover, certain groups, like the Highlanders of the Southern
Appalachians, call for separate consideration because of the
special conditions under which they live. The study ought
also to be undertaken with some just realization of the re-
sources and progress of the southern states. Your Deputa-
tion, therefore, begins its report of impressions received with
a brief account of what the words " the South " mean at the
present time. Here and elsewhere in its report, the Deputa-
tion is greatly indebted to Rev. John M. Moore, D.D., Secre-
tary of the Home Mission Board of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, whose recent book, " The South Today,"
is of peculiar value for our purposes, since it enables us to see
southern conditions and problems through the eyes of a
broad-minded man born in the South and identified with all
that is best in its life and work. It should be added that Dr.
Moore's statistics cover the sixteen states where slaves were
held before the war, thus including Oklahoma and Missouri.
Although the geographical definition of " the South " thus
offered contains territory not usually included and cannot

164 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

be regarded as satisfactory from most points of view, it

answers the purpose of the preliminary portion of this report

perhaps better than a more restricted definition would do.

In the area thus bounded the population in 1910 was

divided as follows:

White people of American parentage 20,643,613

" " " foreign birth 927,386

" parentage 1,687,665

Negro population ■ 8,781,215

Indian " 110,000

32,149,279

The student of these sixteen states is therefore considering
nearly one-third of the total population of the nation and
much more than a third of those not foreign by birth or
parentage. It should also be noted that these states contain
about one-third of the white population of American parent-
age in the entire country. The region contains 925,028
square miles, which is a trifle over one-fourth of the total
area of the United States.

However viewed, it is a section of large significance. In-
dustrially, socially, politically, educationally, its problems
and possibilities are of the gravest import to the nation
and the world. Those responsible for the policy and program
of any type of organized Christian effort cannot escape asking
themselves with insistent earnestness what service they can
render the South and what service the South can render to
the ideals they cherish. The same thing can be said of any
other important and measurably homogeneous section of our
country. Dr. Moore justly remarks concerning his own
study of the South:

" As a component part of our common country, and not very different
from the rest, the South is simply one of the units into which the national
domain is divided by natural lines and normally developed conditions.
This study is not meant to establish the independency, the separateness,
the peculiarities, the unique capabilities, or the unusual needs of the
South or its people, but to present a succinct yet informing statement
of the present economic, social, and religious conditions of the people,
the forces that are at work, and the seeming potentiahties and tendencies
of this vast and important section of the United States. A similar study
might be profitably made of other sections, such as New England, the
Northwest, or the Great Lakes region. The American people of today
do not know their country, and it can no longer be studied as a whole."

It is with such view of the case that your Deputation has
sought to assemble the facts and considerations which bear

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 165

upon the duty of the Congregational type of Christian thought
and hfe in the South.

No one can travel through the South in observant mood
without becoming conscious of the rapid progress which is
being made in all fields of effort. This is so generally recog-
nized that it does not call for extended illustration. A few-
figures showing the growth along industrial lines may be
taken as indicative of w'hat is happening in all hnes. The
estimated value of property in the South increased from
$21,519,000,000 in 1904 to $43,473,000,000 in 1912. The
growth in property valuations in the South for the period
1880-1912 was 378.8 per cent., the increase in the rest of the
country being 317.6 per cent.

As illustrating the enormous economic advance of the

nation in thirty-five years and the generous share of such

advance found in the South, Dr. Moore saj^s:

" The South has now $7,000,000,000 more capital invested in manu-
facturing, $108,000,000 greater value of mineral output, $866,000,000
greater value of farm products, is cutting 3,483,000,000 more feet of lum-
ber, has a greater railroad mileage, and has $765,000,000 more banking
resources and $225,000,000 more deposits in financial institutions than
the whole country had in 1880. The South is cutting more than half the
lumber in the entire countrj'; it virtually monopohzes the cotton seed
industry; it makes seventy per cent, of all the commercial fertilizers manu-
factured in the United States, having an annual value of $105,000,000; it
mines practically all of the country's output of phosphate rock, sulphur,
fuller's earth, pyrite and other basis materials, and it has in its beds seventy-
five per cent, of all the coal in this country suitable for coke that is used
in smelting."

In manufacturing, the growth of capital invested from
$159,496,592 in 1860 to $2,855,375,275 in 1910 reveals the
difference between the South of today and the South of ante-
bellum days. Even more impressive are the facts concerning
the cotton mill industry of the South. Quoting again from
Dr. Moore:

" The South spins twice as much cotton today as the nation spun in
1880. She had 11,859,000 spindles in 1912 and "has been increasing the
number continuously, having added 454,804 in 1915. In 1909 the South's
capital invested in cotton mills was about nine hundred milhon dollars.
Massachusetts leads all the states in the number of spindles, having in
1910, 7,391,671, but South Carolina comes second with 3,760,891, North
Carohna third, with 2,958,235, and Georgia fourth, with 1,774,967. The
South uses in her mills more cotton than all the remaining states. Massa-
chusetts in 1910 used 1,244,614 bales, North Carolina 754,483; South
Carolina 690,834, Georgia 529,726. The United States consumes in the
cotton mills about five million bales annually. The South's cotton crop
in 1914 was seventeen million bales of about five hundred pounds each."

166 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

Turning from the economic to the educational and social
development of the South, there will be found a similar spirit
of progressiveness and the same notable results. Naturally
and inevitably, however, this side of southern achievement
has been obliged in some degree to wait upon economic gains.
A region which is engaged in a desperate struggle to rebuild
its ruined homes and factories cannot at the moment do all
it might desire in recreating its social institutions.

How desperate that struggle was for the South in the years
following the Civil War, the North has but dimly and un-
sympathetically realized. The tragic picture is thus drawn
by Dr. Moore:

" The upheaval of the sixties not only wiped out five thousand million
dollars' worth of their property, but it destroyed the capacity for rapidly
creating wealth. They had to go in want of the enriching implements of
a great civilization. They saw powerful educational institutions crowd
the North, while their schools struggled and hved distressingly. They
watched the growth of strong publishing houses in the North with their
enormous output of great books, and the enlarging influence of fine North-
ern literary weekly journals and monthly magazines, while their own
section went without them. They have not been unmindful of the mar-
velous Northern establishments with their command of wealth and their
influence upon the national fife. They have had to depend largely upon
Northern capital to build their railroads and then sometimes endure harsh
criticism because they were no better. But the Southern people have not
been bitter, envious, nor ugly spirited. They loved and love the South
with a devotion rarely known in any other people. They are wounded
when it is criticized, but they know that criticism is possible if there are
any who are inclined to expose their want and weakness. Many years
will pass before there will be any large easy wealth in the South by which
great philanthropy may be maintained and the needed higher institutions
of learning may be estabhshed, equipped and maintained. Without them
many who would avail themselves of the advantages which such institu-
tions would afford must go lacking and only the few who can go North or
East or abroad will be able to reach the great foundations of knowledge
and power. These conditions will change as the nation's wealth, however
held, becomes more and more available for the nation's South."

While the cramping conditions thus described are passing
away, their pressure is still keenly felt. Even the rapid
growth of industry which has been outlined entails burdens
as well as confers benefits. On the one hand, a large amount
of the profits are drained away to reward northern capital.
On the other, the introduction of manufacturing centers into
an agricultural region occasions serious social dislocations.

But a great company of men and women are laboring with
clear vision and unselfish devotion to shape the relationships
and institutions of the South into forms of beauty and power

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 167

and human helpfulness. They are developing the public
school system, fighting disease, applying science to industry,
promoting just race relations, building libraries, exterminating
the saloon, reducing child labor, introducing prison reforms,
broadening the program of the church, bringing light and
power and healing to all the communities of the South. Their
task is not an easy one. But they are forging ahead. They
need all the help they can get. The question which Congre-
gationahsts should ask is, what can we do to help?

Congregational Churches Among White Population
In considering Congregational interests in the South, group
by group, we begin with churches which minister to white
people. It may be said at this point that Congregationalists
have accepted the custom and judgment of the South concern-
ing the separation of the races in church life, as in other
departments of community relationship. This is not mere
deference to the sentiment of the region under discussion, but
represents the deliberate view of our southern Congregational
leaders of both races. In reaching this view they do not for
a moment maintain that the matter of race relationships is
in satisfactory shape either North or South. We are still at a
depressing distance from the goal of brotherly" feeling and
brotherly helpfulness. But as things stand, such feeling and
helpfulness will be far more rapidly promoted through separa-
tion into race groups, than by an attempt to mingle the two,
which is certain to prove inoperative and disastrous.

White Congregational churches are found in all the southern
states except Mississippi. Their number and location are as
follows:

Number of Number of

State Churches Members

Alabama 61 3,062

Arkansas 2 502

Florida 55 2,862

Georgia 69 3,826

Kentucky 9 490

Louisiana 16 961

North Carolina 13 481

South Carolina 1 77

Tennessee 19 1,040

Texas 23 2,098

Virginia 4 348

West Virginia 2 307

Total 274 16,054

168 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

In discussing the nature and prospects of these churches
no mention will be made at this point of those among the
Appalachian Mountaineers. These are located mainly in
Kentucky and Tennessee and will more naturally be considered
later in connection with our mountain schools.

A large share of our southern Congregational churches have
been organized or have come into our fellowship within the
last thirty years. One of the conspicuous exceptions is the
Circular Church of Charleston, South Carolina, which has
n^aintained a continuous existence as a Congregational Church
since 1680. Its story is an interesting one. It developed as
the result of one of the three distinct Puritan settlements in
South Carolina. The Church was made up of Puritans from
Old England and New England, besides the Scotch and
Scotch-Irish, Known at first, as " The New England Meet-
ing " it caine to be called the " Circular " Church from the
shape of the house of worship erected in 1804. Throughout
the nineteenth century up to the time of the Civil War it
occupied a place of prominence in the life of the South. In
1860 it had six hundred white and three hundred colored
communicants. Its building was burned in 1861, but was re-
placed with another similar in form, which still stands. Al-
though the membership is small, services are regularly main-
tained.

Of the churches listed in the above table, the larger half
came into the Congregational fellowship in the '80s from a
denomination bearing the name " Congregational Metho-
dist." This denomination was one of several bodies which
separated from the Methodist Episcopal church during the
last century, usually in protest against some aspect of the
system of oversight by bishops. Finding themselves essenti-
ally in sympathy with Congregationalism, they changed their
relationship as stated. Most of our churches in Georgia and
Alabama were formerly of the Congregational Methodist
body. They are as a rule country churches, in a majority of
cases being away from the railroad. Their membership is
small, as wall be seen from the table. Their resources are
meagre and the range of their service necessarily limited.

Before proceeding to describe the life of our white Congre-
gational Churches in general it seems natural to refer to the

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 169

inquiry which in one form and another is not infrequently
made, viz., What is the reason for the existence of white
Congregationahsm in the South? What duty have we there?
What possibihties of service in that region are within our
reach? The answer to these questions is found in a brief
analysis of the facts concerning the religious life of the South.
In the first place, it should be remembered that the South is
prevailingly Protestant. Roman Catholicism is a minor,
though slowly increasing, factor. In the second place, the
South, as compared with the rest of the nation, is a region
where religion holds a large place in thehfe of the community.
Of the 24,000,000 members of Protestant Churches in the
United States, between 10,000,000 and 11,000,000 are in the
South. Having 34 per cent, of the population, it has 44 per
cent, of the church membership. While these figures include
both the colored and white population and must, therefore,
be considered in the light of the well known loyalty of the
Negro to the church, it remains true that in both races and
among all classes in the South organized, religion holds a more
prominent place than in the North.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the religious life of
the South is unusually homogeneous. Wide variations of
course are found. But the type of faith and life, the religious
outlook and attitude have in general strongly marked com-
mon features. This is due partly to the fact that a large per-
centage of the people are members or adherents of the two
leading denominations. These two, the Methodist Episcopal
South and the Southern Baptists, do not differ greatly in
numerical strength and contain not much less than half the
Protestant church membership of that region. The remainder
are found in the Presbj^terian, Disciple, Episcopal, Lutheran
and smaller bodies. Other causes easily discernible have also
tended to produce homogeneity.

As to the general features of southern church Ufe, the
following quotation taken again from Dr. Moore, gives a vivid
and suggestive picture.

" The attitude of the Southern people toward reUgion is positive, fer-
vent and vital. Their prevaiUng idealism and natural warm-heartedness
form a basis for a strong religious faith and background for lively religious
experience. The Celtic strain in their blood prepared them for healthy
emotionalism, and the Scotch element furnishes the inclination to theo-

170 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

logical thinking. The Huguenot devotion and the Church of England
correctness add to the enthusiasm for fervent piety and to the regard for
the orderly in worship. The type of religious life is influenced by the pre-
dominance in any community of any one of these original factors. There
are twenty millions in the South outside of a religious organization, but
the large percentage of these, in fact, practically all of them, have the
highest respect for the Church and great cordiality toward religion. The
skeptic is rare, and the outspoken enemy of the Church and rehgion is
seldom seen. . . . The theological vagaries that afflict some sections of
the country have not found any great hold in the South. The isms that
prevail in some districts owe their origin and success to ignorance, and they
pass with the spread of general inteUigence and a faithful seed-sowing of
gospel truths. They are evidences of neglect on the part of the Church.
The super-natural in rehgion is so universally accepted as to make it
practically impossible for a mere humanitarian faith to make any head-
way. Men want God, the God of their fathers, and God as incarnated in
Jesus Christ. There is no conflict here over the deity of Jesus. Historical
criticism has had rough treatment at the hands of those who thought its
purpose was the overthrow of belief in the supernatural, in revelation, and
in the superhuman in Jesus Christ. The scholarship, however scientific
and thorough, that minimizes the divine elements in religion and life has
been discounted in public esteem. The people will not have their religious
foundations destroyed nor their faith diluted by extraneous doctrines.
This state of mind furnishes a bed-rock for the building of strong reUgious
life."

One does not need to share fully the mental and emotional
attitude thus outlined in order to hold in very hearty admira-
tion the organizations which have created and are now guid-
ing the religious life of the South. Great denominations have
grown up there, commanding the loyalty and devotion of
multitudes of people. As in other parts of the United States,
the churches furnish impulse and leadership for all the al-
truistic movements in society. In every department of
southern life and in every community the influence of the
churches is plainly to be seen.

But while thus according sincere and ungrudging honor
to the type of Christian thought and life thus described, we
cannot be unaware of the fact that at certain points it must
necessarily fall short of meeting the needs of the many-sided
and progressive South of today. It would be an ungracious
task to attempt to catalogue these shortcomings. Nor
could any catalogue be made which would not here and there
be unjust. Fortunately, no necessity exists for attempting
to make it. It is sufficient to recognize that there exist sharp
limitations, such as are inevitable in any comparatively small
group of denominations anywhere, and on that basis to in-
quire what needed contribution Congregationalism can make
to the total Christianity of the South. How can it effectively

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 171

supplement the denominations prominent in the South, even
as the}'^ can supplement its work and influence.

Before answering the above question another factor must
be noted. It is fundamentally Christian and sensible to
affirm that disciples of Christ have not only the right but the
duty of expressing their faith through forms of religious
thought and organized effort which appeal to them as con-
genial and adequate. This being true, we naturally must ask
whether there are appreciable numbers of Christian believers
in the South who find what they want and need in Congre-
gationalism, with its emphasis upon freedom from ecclesiasti-
cal control, with its perception of the minor and unimportant
nature of questions of ritual and modes of observing the sacra-
ments, with its steady desire for a close fellowship between all
Christians, with its disposition to minimize differences and
exalt agreements, with its aversion to sectarian claims and
controversies, with its high estimate of the value of scholarly
inquiry, with its progressive spirit and its ready response to
the movement of modern thought.

It appears to the Deputation not merely as a matter of
theory but as a matter of observation that the answer to both
the questions just proposed is exceedingly clear. Without de-
preciating the worth and achievements of other denomina-
tions, it is patent that Congregationalism has a valuable con-
tribution not otherwise offered to make to the sum of the
Christian life of the South. It is also demonstrably certain
that a large and growing number of southern people are
interested in the type of Christian attitude and conviction
for which Congregationalism stands.

Quite irresistibly, therefore, the duty is disclosed not only
of extending the hand of welcome to those who desire our
fellowship, but of shaping our activities in such way as to
accept and bear whatever responsibilities may be laid upon
us by the providential movement of events in the region
under discussion. It is precisely this which we have done
in past years and are now doing. This will be best
illustrated by a study of certain concrete features of our
work there.

In a number of southern cities there are Congregational
churches which came into existence through a division in

172 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

neighboring churches of other denominations. The following
list contains most of these organizations.

Date of Entering Number of

City Congregational Body Members

Austin, Texas 1904 205

Texarkana, Arkansas 1908 472

Key West, Florida 1892 178

Atlanta, Georgia (Union Tabernacle). . . . 1902 129

Salisbury, North Carolina 1915 53-

Portsmouth, Virginia 1905 90

Chattanooga, Tennessee 1914 263

Memphis, " 1866 172

With very few exceptions these divisions were the results
of protest against outside ecclesiastical authority. Frequently
the immediate occasion of the revolt was found in proceedings
instituted against an honored pastor on the ground of heretical
teaching. The members of the church or a substantial por-
tion of them have declined to accept the judgment of the
superior body, and going out with their pastor, have organ-
ized a Congregational church. What ought our attitude to
be in such cases? Quite clearly if the pastor in question is
in our judgment really unfaithful to his trust as a steward of
the message of Christ, we ought to withhold our welcome. If
on the other hand we share the judgment of his people who
are ready to abandon the church property which they have
helped to create and to join with him in the sacrifices neces-
sary for building up another church, we cannot in honor de-
cline a welcome. It is not permissible to forget that our
fathers were persecuted even unto death for alleged heresies
and that we now count their persistence and their sacrifices
a title to unmeasured honor.

The case, therefore, seems exceedingly simple. If after due
inquiry through orderly forms we find ourselves in essential
sympathy with those who, protesting against what they con-
sider error, seek our fellowship, we are bound to make place
for them in our ranks. In so doing we should strive to utter
no unnecessary judgment on our neighbors, still less to re-
joice because of controversy or division within their borders.
Nor need we assume that all right is on one side and all wrong
on the other. But endeavoring to see things as they are we
are compelled to stand for what we see, and to help others
who are like minded with us to do the same.

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 173

But our duty goes much further than a mere passive wel-
come to those who under stress of conscience leave their
former afiiKations and seek our fellowship. The issues upon
which we differ from the prevailing type of organized Chris-
tianity in the South are not mere matters of taste which can
be courteously waived in the interest of neighborly good
feehng. They go deep into the fundamentals of our thought
of God, our outlook upon His world, our conception of salva-
tion and our view of personal and social duty. Divesting
ourselves so far as lies in our power of sectarian feeling, enter-
ing sympathetically as we are able into our neighbor's mood
we yet stand persuaded that God is not honored nor His
Kingdom advanced by much which is included in the thought
and program of large groups of sincere followers of Christ,
North and South, We are therefore forced by every compul-
sion of fidelity to witness in all suitable ways and in all feasible
places to our understanding of the Gospel of Christ.

Note should also be made of the fact that in a considerable
number of communities there is a sufficient group of people
trained in Congregational churches of the North to make
possible the maintenance of a church. While it goes without
saying that unstinted encouragement should be given such
organizations, it cannot be admitted that the existence of
these groups constitutes the chief occasion for our presence
in the South. As a matter of fact, if Congregationalism had
no fundamentally needed contribution to make to the total
fellowship of Christianity in the South, it would be entirely
proper to urge Congregationalists removing there to ally
themselves uniformly with churches already on the ground,
since under the hypothesis just stated they represent a body
which has nothing essential to offer for the upbuilding of the
Kingdom in the region where they have cast their lot. Re-
jecting this hypothesis, we are not only bound to encourage
Congregationahsts living in the South to cherish the form of
faith in which they w^re reared, but to urge them to share
with the denomination at large in extending Congregation-
alism wherever it can render genuine service.

In the nature of the case, the Congregational Home Mis-
sionary Society is the most influential representative of our
denominational fife in the field under review. It is therefore

174 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

important for the Deputation to state what it understands to
be the poHcy of that organization. With that pohcy it finds
itself in entire accord. The Home Missionary Society regards
itself as called upon to shape its course not merely in response
to those needs of communities spiritually destitute which
constitute the basis of all missionary effort, but to do this in
harmony with the spirit and the special responsibilities of the
denomination which it represents. It therefore takes into
account all the factors of the case which have been outlined
and endeavors to make its appropriations and activities ex-
press the conception of duty which they suggest. In so doing
it does not find itself called to pursue a policy of aggressive
expansion in the South. It does not block out its campaign of
organizing churches after the same manner as in the west,
where the antecedents of many of the people furnish both
the justification and the possibility of an outreaching effort
to enlarge our borders. The total appropriation of the So-
ciety for the current year in aid of the work of all the states
contained in the table near the beginning of this section is
only $34,000 out of a total home mission budget of about
$600,000. While confessedly inadequate to the real needs of
the work, this ratio to appropriations for other sections reveals
the Society's judgment that we should proceed conservatively
in the development of our southern work.

It does not, however, follow that the Home Missionary
Society is making no effort to discover where its services are
genuinely called for and to plant churches at such points.
An attitude merely passive and receptive would, as has been
suggested, be regarded by the Society as subversive of the
essential nature of its trust. It therefore seeks by the con-
tinuous study of its southern field to recognize the call of
duty when it appears and by strong backing of work under-
taken to give it the largest opportunity of success. In general
it is not attempting extension of its rural work. This is not
because it is regarded as unimportant. On the contrary the
prevailing agricultural character of the South accentuates
the importance of the country church. Moreover, the almost
universal custom among rural churches in the South of having
but one service a month further emphasizes the extreme lack
of provision for the religious needs of country communities.

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 175

But it is believed that the time has not come when Congre-
gationahsm can render a rapidly widening service in the rural
regions of the South. Extension, therefore, is chiefly in the
cities and only here and there at strategic centers and under
conditions which open to us a door of real service. While in
line with our whole history and the unanimous feeling of our
membership we utterly decline to seek sectarian advantage,
we are bound by that same history and feeling to give of our
strength and substance for promoting the spread of what we
deem just views of life and religion, whether within or without
our fellowship. In other words, the same considerations
which require iis to welcome those who accept our principles
summon us to the aggressive proclamation of those principles.
Fortunately this need not be done in the divisive and con-
troversial spirit. The truths we hold in common with our
brethren of other communions are so many and vital that
we can work side by side with them in fraternal relations pro-
vided both we and they have back of all of our differences
the Spirit of our one Master.

It should be borne steadily in mind that the denomination
cannot delegate all its responsibility to its Home Missionary
Society. It must face the duty too much neglected of attempt-
ing to understand the nature of its task in the South, it must
enter sympathetically into the problems of our churches
there and must with painstaking care cherish their fellowship.
If it would bear adequate witness to Christ it must give more .
ample support to their efforts not only in money but in gifts
of time and thought and consecrated life. It must definitely
put away the notion, which here and there throughout our
history has wrought such disaster, that Congregationalism has
a mission only to certain sections or certain strata of society.
It must accept its national responsibility and in broad vis-
ioned catholic united forms of effort labor for the upbuilding
of the Kingdom of God, the Republic of brotherly men.

Fortunately this report is not called upon to enter the
field of prophecy. What the future of Southern Congregation-
alism shall be no one can assert. It is sufficient to face and
respond to present duty. But there is every reason to believe
that the pioneering we are now doing in the South will have
such issue as our pioneering has had elsewhere. Convinced

176 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

as we are that the world's future will be increasingly under
the dominance of the principles around which Congregation-
alism is organized, we may warrantably believe not only that
those principles will find expression through many organiza-
tions in many fields, but that the denomination which for
three hundred years has borne witness to them will be called
on to bear a rapidly increasing responsibility throughout the
land in the decades and centuries ahead.

Work in the Appalachians

In the vocabulary of missions the phrase " mountain
whites " has long been prominent. The people thus described
have also been widely exploited by such well known authors
as the writers of " The Prophet of the Great Smoky Moun-
tains " and " The Trail of the Lonesome Pine." This oppro-
brious term has come to be associated with a quaint dialect,
homely wisdom, moonshining, extravagant types of religious
emotion, illiteracy, poverty and feuds. This composite of
ideas as it lies in many minds is grotesquely unlike the actual
facts. It may, therefore, be worth while to preface a state-
ment of the work carried on by Congregationalists for the
people in question by a brief statement of existing conditions.

For many of the statistics relating to the distribution and
racial composition of population and denominational connec-
tion, and data relating to the diversity of the mountain
country, the Deputation is indebted to Mr. John C. Campbell
of Asheville, North Carohna, Secretary of the Southern High-
land Division of the Russell Sage Foundation.

The total region occupied by the Highlanders of the South
includes three parallel belts of the Appalachian system ex-
tending from the southern border of Pennsylvania to the
northern boundary of Georgia and some distance into Ala-
bama. It therefore includes parts of Maryland, West Vir-
ginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, South
Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. The entire area included
in the term contains 110,000 square miles, a little more than
the size of the state of Colorad'o. The population within the
boundaries thus described is 5,330,111. Of this number only
90,000 are foreign born and only 625,000 are Negroes. The

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 177

remainder are as to their racial origin remarkably homo-
geneous. In predominant degree they have sprung from the
English and Scotch-Irish who very early in our history settled
in large numbers on the slope of the southern Atlantic sea-
board and were later pushed by various forces, economic
and social, back into the mountain valleys. In this racial
connection will be found a clue to at least some portion of the
peculiar features of mountain life.

Of the inhabitants in the region just described, 860,000
persons live in 91 towns and cities of 2,500 or more population.

The six largest of these cities with their population are as
follows :

Name of City Population

Birmingham, Alabama 132,685

Chattanooga, Tennessee 44,604

Knoxville, Tennessee 36,346

Roanoke, Virginia 34,874

Huntington, West Virginia 31,161

Wheeling, West Virginia 41,641

In addition, nearly 240,000 people are citizens of incorpora-
ted communities of from 1,000 to 2,500 population. Thus
about 1,100,000 are residents in towns and cities. Subtracting
from the total we have almost four and a quarter millions in-
habitants living in rural communities or small villages. Since
the Negroes and the foreign-born are largely in the cities
this figure covers essentially an American-born white
population.

But we have not yet found out how many " mountaineers "
there are. For a very large portion of the four and a quarter
millions above live on farms in the valleys, under economic
and educational conditions not materially different from those
of many agricultural sections elsewhere in the nation. When
these are subtracted the remainder will constitute the popu-
lation which we have in mind when we use the term " moun-
taineer " or " highlander." The number of persons included
in the term will depend entirely upon one's method of classi-
fying. Roughly speaking, the figure most commonly used,
viz., 2,000,000, is sufficiently exact. It does not follow, how-
ever, that all of these 2,000,000 correspond to the conventional
idea of the mountaineer. They may have done so at one
time, but the world moves rapidly and the Southern High-
landers are not wholly out of the world. A large number of

178 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

them have participated with the rest of us in the movement
toward a common type of hving and outlook.

After all deductions are made as indicated there still re-
mains a large field for helpful service, a field whose appeal is
of peculiar strength because of the intimate kinship in origin,
race and ideal between the mountaineer and other historic
American stocks. Before speaking of our denominational
effort in this field a brief account of the conditions of life and
thought in the mountains is in order.

The mountaineers are a religious people. They have in-
tense convictions, a mystical consciousness of the unseen and
a keen interest in the problems of religious thought. Needless
to say they are Protestant. There are only 86,000 Roman
Catholics in the entire 5 1-3 millions of the region under dis-
cussion. Of the membership of Protestant Churches only
slightly less than one-half are Baptists. It must be borne in
mind, however, that the Baptist churches among the moun-
tains range all the way from the type of Baptist generally
found in the North to a form of " Hard Shell " faith, not
particularly different from fatalism to the uninitiated on-
looker. The churches of other denominations are marked by
similar extremes. Emotional extravagances and crude super-
stitions are common in the more backward communities.
The crude and illiterate preacher, while less in evidence than
formerly, is still to be found.

Morally the mountaineer varies like other groups, from a
very high to a very low level. In independence and sense of
personal dignity, in loyalty to his friends, in hospitality, in
patience and integrity, the average is high. In the vices
which spring from isolation and a limited out-look, from
under-nourishment and pinching poverty, from lack of hope
and aspiration, the region is sadly prolific. Many of the
mountain standards of conduct are defective, although not
precisely in the way and to the degree supposed by those
whose view of the mountaineer's life has been formed upon
stories of the illicit still and the occasional feud. Like the
rest of us, the mountaineer suffers for his faults, whether they
be conscious or unconscious, intentional or unintentional.
Multiplied personal family and social disasters throw their
shadow over him. After the manner of all the race of Adam

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 179

he has " come short of the glory of God." Especially is it
true that the mountain home often falls far short of the home
ideal. The intense individualism of the people and their
dreary fight with poverty have operated to deprive woman of
her rightful place of honor and privilege and have robbed
childhood of much of the solicitous care to which it is entitled.

Economically the condition of many of the mountaineers
is most precarious. For lack of capital, education and initia-
tive, his methods of farming are exceedingly primitive. As
a result the people are able to share but scantily in the neces-
sities and luxuries produced by the world at large. Even
when they have produce to exchange for these goods the
difficulties of transportation and inadequate marketing
facilities block their way. Long habit has accustomed them
to meagre fare and rough surroundings. But it does not
enable them to escape the uniform results of such conditions.
An indispensable condition of progress will be the lifting of the
economic level. In recent years the immense growth of the
cotton mill industry in the South has drawn thousands of
people from the mountains to the lowlands. While this has
probably improved the financial condition of those who have
made the change, it is not clear that it will prove a benefit to
the mountain population as a whole. For most men the solu-.
tion of the problem of making a living lies not in removal but
in developing the resources at hand. The American idea
that rising in the world means getting out of the class and out
of the community into which you are born needs everywhere
to be extirpated. The problem for the mountaineer and for
those who desire to be of service to him is how to rise and to
lift his neighborhood with him. A part, and an indispensable
part, of the solution of this problem lies in securing economic
freedom and power. Extreme poverty is the deadly foe of
the finer issues of life. The mountain farms must be made to
yield a more generous support in order that the mountain
home and community may enter more largely into the heritage
of the sons of God.

It is from this angle of view that we must approach the
educational question. In this respect the region under dis-
cussion has in the past been pathetically destitute. School-
houses were few and far between, the buildings unbelievably

180 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

shabby and uncomfortable, the teachers incompetent, the
terms short. For large numbers of mountain children even
a primary education has been utterly out of the question. In
the last ten years there has been a considerable development
of the public school system. The awakening to the importance
of education which has been mentioned as everywhere charac-
teristic of the present South and the increase of wealth which
has made the multiplying of schools a possibiUty have been
felt in the mountains. Primary and grammar schools have
been planted in many places hitherto without them. In the
more resourceful portions county high schools have been
provided. More than this, some increased sense of the im-
portance of education has been diffused.

But the child on an Iowa prairie or in a New England valley
would still be astonished to learn of the difference between his
opportunities and those of the average child living on a moun-
tainside in the Appalachians. All the effort which has been
put forth or for a long time can be put forth will fall far short
of placing adequate school privileges within the reach of every
mountain child. More than this, as has been pointed out,
great economic and moral changes must come before the
children of the mountains can largely avail themselves of
such privileges, however adequate.

Moreover, there is need of a fundamental redirection of
the processes and aims of education. Too largely the schools
in the mountains have followed the conventional lines of
teaching, giving to their handicapped pupils a smattering of
history, geography and the three R's, but failing to train them
to use their powers to meet the specific needs and problems
by which they are surrounded. This fault has been common
to the public schools and to those conducted by denominational
agencies. Both are awakening — and cannot awake too
rapidly — to their mistake. Difficult and baffling as the task
is, they must find a way to teach the children to live in larger
joy and hope and to labor with larger results. Industrial
education, already inaugurated at many points, is an essential
feature of the process. But the reshaping of education must
go much beyond teaching the use of tools, the art of cookery
and the qualities of soils. It must become vital and practical
through the whole range of its impact upon the child. If

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 181

this be declared a demand for the miraculous, the answer is
that Christianity is expected to work miracles.

The Deputation shares heartily the view expressed by Mr.
Campbell, to whose work allusion has already been made.

" They " (church and independent schools) "can, if they will, realize
their dream of thoroughly-equipped, altruistic rural leaders for the moun-
tains. The effort to make it real is, for some generations to come, the
special field of service for church and independent schools. For those who
would undertake this special service, there is much of suggestion and
inspiration in the folk schools of Denmark and in the adaptation of these
schools in Norway, Sweden and elsewhere. ...

From these folk schools, permeated with cultural and religious influences,
have gone forth men and women who have been leaders in winning the
barren heath-lauds of Denmark to fertihty; who have made Europe the
market for the^dairy products of Denmark, and who h:ive been a vital
influence in making the life of this little kingdom as spiritually rich as it is
economically independent."

With this brief outline of the situation in mind it will be
readily understood why the southern mountains have appealed
to the mission boards of all evangelical denominations as
having a peculiar claim upon their interest. Congregation-
alists were early in the field. About 1884 the American Mis-
sionary Association began school work on behalf of these
people. In connection with their schools it was natural to
establish churches. The work grew from year to year until
in the decade 1900 to 1910 it was at its maximum with some
twelve schools in operation and about fifty churches. The
development of the public school system and the participa-
tion of all the leading denominations, North and South, in
the task have made it less necessary as well as less expedient
for the Association to extend its educational work among the
mountaineers. Therefore for some years in accordance with
its general policy of strengthening schools which have the
largest opportunity, it has been concentrating its attention
upon a fe;tv institutions, and discontinuing those of less promis-
ing outlook. This limitation of effort, as already pointed out,
does not in any sense of the word signify that the Association
believes that the educational needs of the youth of the moun-
tains is being sufficiently met. Unhappily there is not the
slightest prospect that it will be so met for many years. But
with the sharp financial limitations imposed upon the Associa-
tion, of which more will be said later, the present volume of
mountain work appears to be all that is proportional and

182 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

justifiable. To extend it would necessitate the effort to reach
classes of the population entirely unable to carry any con-
siderable portion of the cost of their children's schooling. For
such effort the gifts of our churches do not thus far provide.

The care of the churches in the region under review has at
the request of the National Council just been transferred from
the American Missionary Association to the Home Missionary
Society. Their number and size will be seen from the figures
given for Kentucky and Tennessee in the table at beginning
of this report. This step is taken in order that there may be
unity of organization among all the white churches of the
South.

The Deputation earnestly urges the Congregational
Churches to continue and increase their support of the school
and church work among our kinsfolk in the Southern High-
lands as carried on respectively by the American Missionary
Association and the Congregational Home Missionary Society.
A later section of this report will describe the work of Pied-
mont College which seeks to meet the needs of the south-
eastern portion of the mountain area.

Churches Among Negro Population

The members of the Deputation supposed themselves
already reasonably conscious of the complexity of the problem
of aiding our Negro fellow-citizens to rise to the higher levels
of Uving and thinking which so many of them desire. But
they returned from the South with a greatly heightened sense
of that complexity, as well as a stronger conviction of the
importance of the task. In the pages which follow the effort
will be to set before our constituency the nature and volume
of work already in hand, the exacting demands which con-
front us and the pathetically inadequate response which as a
denomination we have made and are making to these demands.

Beginning with our Negro Churches, we need first to get
some view of their number and location, as revealed in the
following table:

1,666

154

754

2,230

280

807

286

2,645

1,119

316

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 183

Number of Churches Membership

Alabama (Association)

Arkansas

District of Columbia

Florida

Georgia (Convention)

Kentucky '.

Louisiana (Conference)

Mississippi

North Carolina (Conference)

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

West Virginia

145 10,356

The churches above tabulated average 71 members per
church. Recalhng that in the same area we have 274 white
churches with 16,054 members (nearly 60 per church) it will
be seen that the churches of the two groups are on the average
quite similar in size. Moreover, if compared with our churches
in any of the newer states, such as the Dakotas or Montana,
the average membership would be found similar in size. .

The distribution of these churches between city and country
is also much as in other parts of the country where Congre-
gationalism is weak. Thirty-seven of the churches above
enumerated are in cities of considerable size, thirty-four in
towns of less than 5,000 and the remainder in small villages
or the open country.

Any thoughtful endeavor to appraise our Congregational
obligations and possibilities among the Negroes requires some
knowledge of the degree to which we have made beginnings
in centers of Negro population. The following table gives a
hst of southern cities of 25,000 and over which Had, in 1910,
a Negro population of 7,500 or more and which may be pre-
sumed to have now 10,000 or more. Cities marked with an
" X " contain colored Congregational Churches; those marked
with a " u " have recently been surveyed with reference to
the estabhshment of such a church and adversely reported
upon by the Superintendent; while those marked with an
" s " are to be surveyed as soon as circumstances permit.

184 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

Population Negro

City 1910 Population

Ala. X Birmingham 132,685 52,305

X Mobile 51,521 28,763

X Montgomery 38,136 19,322

Ark. X Little Rock 45,941 14,539

Fla. u Jacksonville 57,699 29,293

s Tampa 37,782 6,961

Ga. X Atlanta 154,839 51,902

X Augusta 41,040 18,344

X Macon .^^ . . 40,665 18,150

X Savannah 65,064 33,246

Ky. X Lexington 35,099 1 1,011

X Louisville 223,928' 40,522

La. X New Orleans 339,075 69,262

s Shreveport 28,015 13,896

N. C. X Charlotte 34,014 11,752

X WHmington 25,748 12,107

S. C. X Charleston 58,833 31,056

X Columbia 26,319 11,546

Tenn. x Chattanooga 44,604 17,942

X Knoxville 36,346 7,638

X Memphis 131,105 52,444

X Nashville 110,364 36,523

Tex. X Austin 29,860 7,478

X Dallas 92,104 18,024

s Ft. Worth 73,312 13,280

X Galveston 36,981 8,036

X Houston 78,800 23,929

u San Antonio 96,614 10,716

Va. s Lynchburg 29,494 9,466

s Norfolk 67,452 25,039

s Portsmouth 33,190 11,617

s Richmond 127,628 46,733

s Roanoke.. 34,674 7,924

The following cities have from 10,000 to 25,000 with 3,000

or more Negroes. Marks the same as in the previous table.

City

Ala. X Anniston

Bessemer

X Gadsden

s Selma

Ark. Argenta

Ft. Smith

Hot Springs

Pine Bluff

Texarkana

Population
1910

Negro ,
Population

12,794
10,864
10,557
13,649

4,570
6,260
3,435
7,863 -

11,138
23,975
14,434
15,102

4,210
4,456
3,827
6,124

15,445

5,319

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 185

Population Negro

• 1910 Populatiou

Fla. Key West 19,945 5,515

s Pensacola 22,982 10,214

Ga. X Athens 14,913 6,316

Brunswick 10,182 5,567

s Columbus 22,554 7,644

Rome 12,099 3,758

Maycross 14,485 6,729

Ky. Henderson 11,452 3,016

Owensburg 15,011 3,115

Paducah 27,760 6,047

La. .Alexandria 11,213 5,854

X Baton Rouge 14,897 7,899

X Lake Charles 11,449 4,437

Monroe 10,209 5,320

Miss. Hattiesburg 11,733 5,357

X Jackson 21,262 10,554

X Meridian 23,285 9,331

Natchez 11,791 6,700

s Vicksburg 20,814 ^ 12,053

N. C. u Asheville 18,762 5,359

Durham 18,241 6,869

X Greensboro 15,895 5,710

X Raleigh 19,218 ^ 7,372

s Winston 17,167 7,828

S. C. X Greenville 15,741 6,319

u Spartansburg 17,517 6,873

Tenn. Jackson 15,779 5,719

Tex. X Beaumont 20,840 6,896

Marshall 11,452 4,997

Palestine 10,482 3,554

X Paris 11,269 3,131

Va. Alexandria 15,329 4,188

Dan^dlle 19,020 6,207

Newport News 20,205 7,259

Petersburg 24,127 11,014

W. Va. Charleston 22,969 3,086

Examination of these tables reveals the fact that 23 of the
33 large cities first hsted have Congregational Churches;
that two of the remainder have been recently studied and are

not looked upon as furnishing promising openings, while all
of the remainder are definitely before the minds of those in
charge of our work as calHng for careful examination. In

the second group 45 cities are listed, in 12 of which there are

186 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

Congregational Churches, 2 having been recently surveyed
and adversel}^ reported upon, while 5 are to be studied as
soon as possible. It is clear from these figures that we have
sought to emphasize our responsibility in the important
centers and that in the majority of the larger city groups of
Negroes we are maintaining churches.

No extended description of the life and work of our colored
churches needs to be given, since all thoughtful Congrega-
tionalists may be presumed to be familiar with the general
conditions under which the colored population of the United
States is working its way upward. That their financial re-
sources are small goes without saying; ]3arely a dozen of them
are entirely self-supporting. That they are unable, save in
isolated cases, to conduct a church program of breadth,
\ variety and aggressiveness, is equally clear. That they do
not, as a rule, have the ear of any large section of the colored
population, any one who knows the prevailing Baptist or
Methodist bias of the overwhelming majority of Negroes will
-* at once assume. On the other hand, these churches stand un-
qualifiedly and loyally for the type of faith and life repre-
sented by our denomination. Their emphasis on character
as the central concern of the church and their disapproval
of the empty emotionalism which has in the past been so
prominent in the Negro churches are entirely in line with the
Congregational outlook. Their appreciation of the value of
knowledge and the necessity of making the church an edu-
cational as well as an evangelistic agency is equally in evi-
dence. The ministers of these churches are heartily loyal to
our denominational interests and anxious to further them.
The rank and file of the members, though necessarily less
informed, are in their sympathy and purpose equally loyal.

Some account of the lines of policy upon which our church
work among colored people is conducted appears to be called
for. These have been determined in the past almost entirely
by the American Missionary Association. At the present
time, some increase of denominational consciousness among
the churches and a corresponding disposition on the part of
the denomination as such to face its responsibilities are opera-
ting to divide the responsibility which the Association has
hitherto borne. But broadly speaking, the Association still

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 187

speaks for the denomination. The features of its pohcy and
plans which call for mention are the following :

1. A minimum of emphasis upon sectarian advantage or
claims. The Association holds, as it has alwaj^s held, that to
introduce more of sectarianism into a population, already
over-weighted with that commodity, would be to misrepresent
the spirit of Congregationahsm. It is, therefore, entirely
averse to the estabhshment or maintenance of a church for
reasons exclusively denominational. It seeks rather for
reasons which spring from consideration of the larger welfare
of the colored people.

2. A prime -regard for quality rather than quantity. Great
congregations of Negroes may be found everywhere in the
South, If these could be duplicated under the power of an
ethical, rational and spiritual type of Christianity, it would
be wholly desirable. But to duplicate them at the cost of the
sacrifice of these ideals the Association believes impossible
to contemplate, even as it would be beyond our power to ac-
complish. This is not to say that the Association regards our
colored churches as illustrating in so ample a way as could
be desired the qualities sought. But it holds steadily to its
ideal and aim.

3. Painstaking investigation of community conditions.
The Association has in recent years adopted the rule that a
social survey of the population to be served shall be made
before a decision for or against the establishment of a church
is reached. It is also endeavoring in the tentative way
which conditions and resources permit, to have the churches
under its care undertake community service such as an
intelligent study of conditions may suggest.

4. An educational leadership and oversight. By recent
changes a much ampler force of superintendents has been
provided. Four men now give their whole time to this task
and, by specializing of study and interchange of effort, are
endeavoring to give our colored churches needed leadership
in developing a fully rounded program of life and service.

To the members of the Deputation these principles of pro-
cedure appear entirely sound. They can easily believe that
there would be a larger number of Negro Congregational
Churches in existence if a different policy had been followed.

188 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

But that under a narrower policy we could have rendered a
larger service, they cannot believe. Moreover, they are con-
vinced that the American Missionary Association has suc-
ceeded upon the lines described in creating a body of churches
genuinely homogeneous with the denomination and, as has
been said, thoroughly loyal to it. The proof of this, if proof
were needed, may be found in the steady pressure which our
colored pastors have in recent years brought to bear upon the
Association on behalf of a more aggressive program of de-
nominational extension. An expression and example of this
may be seen in a memorial adopted by the State Association
representing the Negro Congregational Churches of Alabama
in March, 1916, and presented to the Deputation. In con-
densed form this memorial is as follows:

I We respectfully but strongly urge upon the American Board the
wisdom of adopting a policy which shall seek actively to enlist in the
work of the redemption of Africa the highest type of Negro men and
women trained in our Congregational Schools and Churches and thus
prepared for missionary service in our Fatherland. We believe that
such a policy wiU fit into the Divine plan which permitted our
forefathers to be brought to this land and become Christianized
and trained, that through their posterity Africa might be enlarged
and redeemed.
II We regret what seems to us the tendency and in some quarters the
policy to divorce our schools from our denominational control and
influence as they grow stronger financially. It is common knowledge
that in carrying out this poUcy we have lost some of our strongest
schools, and if we read aright the signs of the times, we are now in
the process of losing others. This is fatal to the best interests of the
people, as it is of the denomination itself. The real work of the
A. M. A. schools has been the value and emphasis placed upon Chris-
tian character and upon spiritual things. To allow this spiritual
idea to disappear and our institutions to become secularized would
be an irreparable loss. And yet that is what inevitably takes place
as our schools in the pride of increased endowment and material
growth are released from the guiding hand of the denomination.

III We beheve that the time has come here in the South for a forward
movement in church extension. We hail the appointment of Negro
Superintendents as a long step in the right direction, and we urge our
denomination through the A. M. A. and the Church Building Society
to push this phase of our work. The Negro church tlirough the other
denominations has largely failed to reach the Negro. Reformation
must come from without. The suspicions with which Congregational-
ism was once regarded have disappeared. These facts furnish the
greatest opportunity our denomination has yet found in the South.
We have been raised up for such a time as this. The South, black
and white, needs the liberty, breadth of view, culture, and spirituality
which Congregationalism has to give.

IV We emphasize what seems to us to be the need of a more vital union
between our churches and our schools. In order to conserve what
we have gained through the struggle of half a century and at the
same time to enlarge our borders, there must be a tightening up of

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 189

our denominational machinery. Without becoming sectarian we
urge greater care in the selection of teachers for our schools and col-
leges. Missionary zeal, spiritual vision, denominational loyalty and
a sympathetic understanding of the Negro, quite as much as mental
and moral preparedness, should be a part of one's equipment for this
work.

V We here record our deep and abiding faith in the A. M. A. as the
agency through which the larger work of the denomination is to be
done for the Negro here in tlie South. Its work in the past, its knowl-
edge of present conditions and its vision for the future all attest its
fitness for this tremendous task — a task so big and vast as to make
what has been accomplished seem but a mere scratch on the surface.

VI Finally, we suggest to the denomination the wisdom of manning one
of our highest institutions of learning entirely by Negroes. We urge
this upon the following grounds: —

1. As an expression of the denomination's faith in the Negro as a
man — no more, no less.

2. As an expression of the denomination's faith in the efficiency of
our schools. If the Negro cannot be trusted with these responsi-
bilities, he is either by nature mentally or spiritually, or both,
unfit for work calling for spiritual insight, initiative power and
administrative ability, or else our schools have signally failed of
their highest mission, which is to train a group of leaders who
shall be able to take up and carry to completion the work so well
begun.

3. As an inspiration to the Negro boys and girls who have so long
seen positions of responsibility and trust held by white men that
there is great danger of their reaching the conclusion that their
race is lacking in the higher powers of mind and zeal which fit
men for big tasks. Such an impression would, to a degree, stifle
ambition and discredit the race in the eyes of our young people
when our schools should in every possible way seek the opposite.

The vigor of this memorial and the breadth of its vision
speak for themselves. The Deputation responds heartily to
the spirit and aspiration which the}^ express. It has ample
reason to believe that the American Missionary Association
responds in like way. No more convincing proof of the value
of the Association's work could be offered than the fact that
men trained under its influence cherish such ideals and are
capable of giving them so effective expression. It does not
follow that the way is now open to follow all the suggestions
made. Upon some of them this report will later on have
comment to make. As to all of them, it confidently believes
that they will receive continuous study by the bodies con-
cerned and will be followed wherever ultimately found wise
and feasible.

A final word should be said concerning the missionary re-
lationship of the Negro churches. When it was decided by
the Commission on Missions to recommend that church
work among the Southern Highlanders be transferred from

190 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

the American Missionary Association to the Home Mission-
ary Society, the question was naturally broached whether a
similar transfer of the Negro churches should not be made.
The judgment of the Commission was in the negative. The
Deputation finds no ground in its observation or reflection
to question the wisdom of this decision. The intimate con-
nection between our Negro schools and churches suggests
that they be related to the same agency. The difference
between the problems confronting the Negro churches and
those of the white churches points to the same conclusion.
The preference and judgment of Negro Congregationahsts
are believed by the Deputation strongly to confirm the pre-
sumption thus created. If a change is to be made, it should
be at a future time and in view of a different set of facts.

Schools for Negroes

The characteristic work of the American Missionary Asso-
ciation has been in the field of education and by far the largest
item of its work has been the education of the Negro. At
the very beginning of the Civil War its heroic and self-sacri-
ficing missionaries laid the foundations of Hampton Institute,
Fisk University, Atlanta University and other schools.
Gathering the sons and daughters of the bewildered and
penniless freedmen from the plantation and the citj'^, they
began the work of preparing them for the larger life which
lay ahead. It is not within the province or the power of the
Deputation to portray in an adequate way the high spiritual
dignity of the service thus rendered, nor its noble contribution
to the welfare of the nation. But no presentation of Negro
Congregationalism should ever be made which does not offer
its tribute of homage and gratitude to the men and women
of a half century ago who under the commission of the Ameri-
can Missionary Association immersed their lives in the life
of a despised and helpless people. The view which thoughtful
people in the South entertain of this service finds generous
expression in Dr. Moore's book, from which we have pre-
viously quoted.

" The present state of progress would not have been possible without
that magnanimous assistance that has come from the North, and the
people of the South are profoundly grateful to the men and women of other

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 191

sections who by their gifts of money and personal self-sacrifice have helped
the South to educate this backward and dependent people. The late
munificence of the great foundations can never be lightly regarded, but
the constant, unfailing, and sacrificial gifts from northern church bodies
for the last fifty years stand out today as love's and religion's regard for a
cast-off and neglected people. The South today, and especially the moral
and religious people, would make grateful acknowledgement of this sub-
lime service. Its value can never be reckoned in human calculations. As
a Southern man, the author presents this testimonial. This is not to say
that the acts of all the Northern missionaries and teachers were and are
approved. Many of these zeilous souls were not discreet in the conditions
in which they labored, but their integrity and high purposes no one Ques-
tions. Today the unpleasantness is in the past and the South rejoices in
the labors of those who gave themselves that those in darkness might have
the light. Into these labors the southern people are entering more and
more by their church agencies and public appropriations that they may
give strength, wisdom, virtue, and truth to their Negro neighbors and
fellow-citizens. The white man of the South and the Negro of the South
are setting themselves with great determination and mutual appreciation
to the working out of the problems incident to their relations in a common
country."

The work thus begun grew year after year, until its maxi-
mum of volume was reached in the early years of this century
with nearly sixty schools in operation, enrolhng something
over 11,000 pupils. From that time on various factors have
come into play necessitating radical readjustments of efforts.
These factors may be briefly summarized as follows:

1. There has been a marked enlargement of the public
school system for the Negro race in the South, This
system is still sadly inadequate. There are not schools
enough; those which exist usually lack proper equipment
and the teaching is often poor in quality. But the
growth has been notable and in some regions and com-
munities makes denominational schools no longer neces-
sary so far as academic training is concerned.

2. The emergence of a class of educated and ambitious
Negroes with the needs and tastes of progressive people
has compelled larger expenditure in the conduct and
equipment of our schools. This has been accompanied
by the more enacting demands as to sanitation, fire
protection, et cetera, which mark our time.

3. All the movement of present day education is towards
a broader and deeper program. More ground must be
covered and the work related more thoroughly to all
human powers and relationships.

192 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

Bearing upon the situation created by these changes the
following extract from a recent address of Dr. Philander P.
Claxton, United States Commissioner of Education, is of
interest.

" The people from the North, out of the goodness of their hearts, gave
money in large quantities for the establishment of schools for the educa-
tion of the Negroes in the southern states, these people who had not had
an ancestor in the history of the world from the beginning of creation until
then who could either read or write. And then the pubUc schools began
to be brought down there, and ilhteracy was brought down to 75 per cent.,
and to 60 per cent., and to 45 per cent., and it stood at 30 per cent., in 1910.
Only about 25 per cent., now cannot read and write, and of these between
the ages of 10 and 20, about 15 per cent. Nothing like it ever happened
before at any time or any place in the history of the world. No other race
ever rose from illiteracy to literacy so rapidly as the colored people of the
Southern States. Already there is less illiteracy than there was among the
white people of the whole United States when they gained their freedom,
and less than among the white people of the Southern States only fifteen
years ago."

It will be perceived, at once that the new conditions have
called inexorably for increase of expenditure on the part of
missionary educational agencies. The old type of school with
a budget of a few hundred dollars a year has ceased to be
possible. Coincident with this, the educational and social
conscience of the administrators of the American Missionary
Association has forced them to seek continual improvement
in equipment and method. Since this increase of cost has
been matched by no corresponding increase of gifts, there
remained but one thing for the Association to do, namely,
reduce the number of its schools. It has acted with courage
and decision in accordance with this necessity. During the
past ten years it has closed 29 of its schools in the South
(white and colored, lowland and highland), so that the total
stands at. 43 today as against 72 in 1906. Fortunately the
growth of the public school system just mentioned has in some
cases made the closing of a school expedient as well as inevi-
table. In other cases it has been found possible to turn a
school over to another denomination. But in a few com-
munities nothing has taken the place of the school closed and
its discontinuance means a net loss to the people served.

The Association is expending upon the 43 schools no\v
operated among both races a slightly larger amount than
upon the 72 of ten years ago. There are more teachers in
the 43 than in the 72. But the number of pupils is 10,000 as

Costto A.M. A.

including

Receipts

Enrollment

donations

from

for Year

income, etc.

Tuition

506

$26,106

SI 1,906

702

31,161

4,651

442

22,742

2,912

581

10,372

6,547

295

10,389

2,080

1917] . THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 193

against the earlier 15,000. In other words, the work is in-
tensive rather than extensive. Three times as much money-
goes into repairs and upkeep as formerly. New buildings are
more substantial, sanitary and attractive than those of an
earlier period. The teaching force receives a larger compen-
sation, although here, alas, no decided gain can be reported.
Among the things which must be faced at the earliest possible
moment is a more adequate scale of salaries.

Bearing in mind these readjustments and not losing sight
of the fact that the totals above named have included all our
schools in the South, white and colored, the following table,
which deals exclusively with colored schools, will be of interest :

Colleges

*Fisk Univ., Nashville, Tenn

Talladega College, Talladega, Ala . . .

Tougaloo Univ., Tougaloo, Miss

Straight College, New Orleans, La. . .

TiUotson College, Austin, Texas ....

Theological Seminaries

Howard University

School of Theology, Washington, D.C. 171 3,967
Talladega College, Talladega (Theo-
logical Department) 16

Secondary Institutions

Athens, Ala., Trinity School

Florence, Ala., Burrell Normal School
Marion, Ala., Lincoln Normal School

Mobile, Ala., Emerson Inst

Fessenden, Fla., Fessenden Academy.
Albany, Ga., Albany Normal School . .

Athens, Ga., Knox Inst

Macon, Ga., Ballard Normal School . .
Arcadiaj-Ga., Dorchester Academy. . .

Savanah, Ga., Beach Inst

*Thomasville, Ga., Allen Normal &

Industrial School

Lexington, Ky., Chandler Normal

School

Beaufort, N. C, Washburn Seminary.
Bricks, N. C, Jos. K. Brick Agri. &

Industrial & Normal School

King's Mountain, N. C, Lincoln

Academy

Troy, N. C, Peabody Academy

Wilmington, N. C, Gregory Nor.

Inst

Charleston, S. C, Avery Nor. Inst. . . .

* Including correspondence students.

262

2,607

961

207

2,615

801

356

5,943

1,324

285

3,554

2,116

283

3,139

,224

3,244

856

277

3,615

1,134

429

3,271

3,713

227

5,360

. 457

113

2,571

798

327

4,852

1,488

244

4,144

1,350

499

209

260

10,072

957

193

3,991

491

214

1,549

618

250

3,722

1,553

286

3,812

2,514

194 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

• Cost to A.M. A.

including Receipts
Enrollment donations from

for Year income, etc. Tuition

Greenwood, S. C, Brewer Nor. School. 236 $4,514 $1,004

Memphis, Tenn., LeMoyne Inst 411 6,512 3,869

Cappahosic, Va., Gloucester School. . 122 5,271 937

Elementary Institutions

Ft. Davis, Ala., Cotton Valley School . 139 1,519 189

AndersonviUe, Ga., Elem. School 70 450

Beachton, Ga., Grady Co. School. ... 116 200

tCUnton, Miss., Met. Harmon Sem.. . . 91 779 398

fMoorhead, Miss., Girls' Ind. School. . 71 2,681 247

Mound Bayou, Miss 198 615 699

J Affiliated Institutions
Cuthbert, Ga., Howard Normal Sch. . 219

Total Number of Schools, 36; Total Pupils, 8772.

To discuss in all its aspects the work thus conducted on
behalf of the Congregational denomination is visibly out of
the question. Certain features of policy, however, are of
such general interest or are so vital to an intelhgent compre-
hension of the Association's task that they call for mention
in this report.

Administrative Policy

Every Missionary Board is obliged to establish some general
policy as to the relation between the central office and the
local representatives of the organization. Few questions
present more factors of difficulty. On the one hand is the
imperative necessity of directing expenditure from a single
center and of shaping the major features of local procedure
in harmony with a general plan. On the other hand is the
equally imperative necessity, if best results are to be obtained,
of trusting the judgment of those upon the ground and of
giving free scope to individual initiative and devotion. The
balance between and the adjustment of these two not wholly
compatible factors is always hard to secure and maintain.
It is not easy for those actively engaged in the work, whether
on the field or in the central office, to see all the factors with
unclouded vision, while the judgment of those looldng on
from the outside lacks the needful basis of knowledge. There
is room, therefore, for much modesty and patience.

The Deputation gave an exceptional amount of thought and

{Girls' Seminary with day pupils. , ■ . t. j r

School aided or property owned by A. M. A., but aduinistered by its own Board of
Trustee?.

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 195

conference to this aspect of the Association's responsibilities.
At the beginning of its history a closely centralized policy
was instituted. The reasons for so doing are easily discernible.
No organization attempting a pioneer task among a people
without experienced leadership or resources could properly
place any considerable share of the guidance of affairs in the
hands of local representatives. The more difficult question
is to determine how soon and how rapidly steps toward decen-
tralization should be taken. The Deputation is strongly of
the opinion that in the case of the American Missionary
Association the process might wisely have gone on faster
than has been the case. It beheves that one of the present
duties of the Association is to add other measures to those
recently taken looking toward the encouragement of the
initiative and the emphasizing of the responsibility of workers
upon the ground. The Deputation', in submitting this
view to the executive officials of the Association in personal
conference, has not assumed itself capable of reaching an
assured judgment as to the specific steps to be taken. It is
confident that those responsible for the conduct of the Asso-
ciation's activities will work out and put in force whatever is
practically feasible along the lines of this suggestion.

Educatio7ial Policy
All who know or care anything about the Negro have, in
recent years, been interested in the discussion as to the type
of education to be offered his children. The idea has been
widely prevalent. North and South, that the curriculum of a
Negro school should be limited severely to so-called " prac-
tical " subjects, and that manual and vocational training
should everywhere be in the forefront. It, therefore, becomes
important to state what policy is pursued in the schools for
whose support we contribute and what judgment the Deputa-
tion holds as to that pohcy. The American Missionary
Association has always held as a thing not open to debate
that the color of the pupils' skin cannot properly determine
the nature of a curriculum. We are to educate children, not
as Negroes or Caucasians, but as human beings. The Associa-
tion stoutly refuses to shape its educational policy with refer-
ence to an expected permanent exclusion of the Negro from

196 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [191/

participation in the higher intellectual interests of the race.
It has sought to follow the ideal universally cherished among
Christian leaders of training and developing the whole man,
spirit, mind and body. It recognizes that the Negro race needs
its own leadership and can only have it as the door is open to
its young people to share the world's culture. Any who fear
that the Negro boys and girls are receiving higher education
beyond the degree which present conditions warrant will be
reassured by the fact that only 12 per cent, of all the students
in all denominational schools are of college grade and that
many of these do not graduate. Those who desire to see the
Negro race making all possible speed toward the development
of its own leadership will keenly regret that the proportion is
so small.

On the other hand, it is equally persuaded that education
should be so shaped as to prepare the student for the actual
conditions in which he is to pass his life. This means, among
other things, for most Negro pupils training in the use of the
hands for accomplishing practical tasks. Consequently, in
all its schools of the upper grades something is done in the
way of manual training, and in several of its larger institu-
tions industrial and technical courses are maintained. Large
farms are connected with some of its schools and are used for
the training of the pupils in the rudiments of scientific farm-
ing. It should be understood, however, that for the majority
of the pupils no such thing as the mastery of a trade or vo-
cation is possible. The limited period during which the
average child can attend school and the prohibitory cost of
fully equipped technical training make it impossible for any
save highly endowed and highly specialized institutions to
impart such mastery. In view of the fact that schools like
Hampton and Tuskegee, which endeavor to train pupils in
technical efficiency along manual and engineering fines, expend
annually $218 per pupil, while the sum available for pupils
in the A. M. A. schools is onl}^ $32, it will be seen that it could
not enter, if it would, the field of highly specialized training.
Those interested in the education of handicapped peoples
should be on their guard, therefore, against rosy and entirely
baseless statements about " training for productive industry,"
etc. What can be done in this matter by institutions among

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 197

Negroes, such as are supported by the various denominations,
is to teach the pupils the dignity of all labor, to foster skill
in manual tasks wherever possible, and in here and there a
case to teach the rudiments of household economics or of a
trade. This, the American Missionary Association is doing.
What cannot be done has been already described. And this
it does not attempt to do. The Deputation believes that the
educational policy of the Association, as a whole, is thoroughly
well balanced and wise.

Policy as to Permanent Oversight

Congregationalism has *been proverbially disinclined to
assert any formal claim upon colleges founded under its aus-
pices. Many of them never had in their charters or constitu-
tions any mention of denominational connection. Others,
having an original provision in this sense, later on cancelled
it. There appears to the Deputation ample room for debate
as to whether the denominational policy, thus described, has
been wise. As an expression of the non-sectarian character
of Congregationalism and of its view of academic freedom,
the policy has been wholly admirable. As a means of exhibit-
ing the interest of the denomination in Christian education
and of making its influence effective for the shaping of such
education, it has no visible value.

The American Missionary Association has followed the
traditional policy of the denomination on the point under
consideration. As fast as the institutions founded by it have
reached reasonable maturity and stability, the Association
has transferred title to an independent Board of Trustees
and relinquished all right of control, though maintaining
intimate relations of an advisory and cooperative nature.
This has recently been done in the case of Fisk University. A
reason for such course, over and above the denominational
custom mentioned, has perhaps been found in the fact that
no small part of the funds handled by the Association through-
out its history has come from sources outside Congregation-
alism. None the less, it appears to the Deputation that all
interests involved would be better served if, in some form,
the denominational connection, loosely expressed by the

198 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

relation of a school to the A. M. A., could be perpetuated
under some other form when it is deemed wise that such
relation shall cease. And this suggestion arises, not so much
from a desire that the school be related to our denomination,
as that it be related to some denomination. It is hard to
believe that some sort of explicit moral bond between a college
and the denomination to which it has a natural relation can
be otherwise than wholesome for both.

It appears hardly within the province of this Deputation to
offer specific suggestions as to the way in which this bond
may be constituted. Presumably, the method would vary
according to circumstances. It is the hope of the Deputation
that this whole subject may be taken up by a properly consti-
tuted denominational agency for fresh ^tudy.

Denominational Support

The institutions catalogued are scattered over a large area,
cover a wide educational range, and constitute an imposing
aggregate of altruistic effort. Nothing in which the Congre-
gational Churches of the nation are permitted to share should
give them greater satisfaction or awaken a more enthusiastic
interest. Every generous and patriotic motive serves to
reenforce the missionary impulse, as we survey our relation-
ship to the Negroes of our land. The work of the American
Missionary Association should have behind it the consolidated
strength of Congregationalism.

Unfortunately, no such state of things exists. The facts
with reference to the contributions of Congregational Churches
to this sacred cause are humiliating in the extreme. However
viewed and by whatever excuse softened, these facts reveal
our denomination as given to complacent speech about its
pioneer interest in the Negro and its steady championship of
the rights of despised races, while the cash basis of support
for its complacent speech has been exceedingly slender.
{^Analyzing the receipts of the American Missionary As-
sociation, we discover the following situation:

The receipts of the last fiscal year show approximately a total of $220,000
from churches and individuals, the latter not all Congregationalists.

The total expenditures of the Association for the last fiscal year were
approximately $515,000, of which $315,700, or very nearly three-
fifths of the whole, was for Negro work.

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 199

Assuming that donors share proportionately in all parts of the Associa-
tion's task and that therefore three-fifths of the $220,000, above men-
tioned, from churches and individuals was contributed by them to
Negro work, we have a total of $132,000, an average of about seventeen
cents for each member of our churches and an average of a trifle over
$20 for each of our churches.

Seventeen cents per member is then the average annual dollars and
cents expression of the interest of Congregational Christians in the
10,000,000 American Negroes with whose life and destiny we are so
closely linked by every human and divine bond.

The Deputation is obliged in simple fidelity to the duty
imposed upon it to say that this state of things ought to be
regarded by the denomination as intolerable. We ought, at
the earliest possible moment, to appoint a day especially for
the consideration of this shghted and neglected obhgation.
It should be fundamentally a day of repentance, and of re-
pentance which takes the form not only of a ringing proclama-
tion of the claims of our Negro work, but of generous special
gifts which, added to the regular gifts of the year, shall in
some measure atone for our past fault. Then let all the
churches resolve that for the future they will keep alive the
fire of interest in our handicapped brethren and will in more
honest and adequate fashion attempt to translate our interest
into worthy gifts.

Institutions for Higher Education

There remains only the duty of describing briefly the work
of a group of colleges through which Congregationalism is
endeavoring in the South to express its traditional con-
viction of the value of a liberal education acquired under the
controlling influence of Christian faith and having at heart
the purpose of Christian service. There are eight of these
institutions, three for white students and five for colored
students.

On behalf of six of these institutions, viz., Fisk, Talladega,
Tougaloo, Straight, Tillotson and Piedmont, the American
Missionary Association inaugurated some years ago a million-
dollar endowment campaign. A total of $350,000 has been
secured for the first-named school and energetic efforts are
now in process for securing $200,000 for Talladega. Some-
thing over half this amount has been raised. The wisdom and
timeliness of this undertaking are beyond all question. It is

200 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

an occasion for gratitude that so much has been done toward
its accomplishment. On the other hand, if Christian people
of generous incomes could be made to realize the significance
of these institutions, the total amount needed would be sub-
scribed without a month's delay. The Deputation earnestly
urges that Congregationalists, everywhere, interest them-
selves heartily, by all means available, in the promotion of
this fund. We must vigilantly guard ourselves against that
cooling of interest in the Negroes of our land, an interest
never more needed than now when their day of opportunity
begins to dawn.

Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, founded in 1866 has
long been one of the most conspicuous of the institutions for
the higher education of the Negro. In recent months it has
completed the effort to add a quarter of a million dollars to its
endowment, with other funds for equipment, and is in better
shape to do its work than ever before. It must, however, fall
far short of its possibilities until further increases of endow-
ment are secured. Its enrollment for the past year was 552
divided as follows: —

Graduate students, 2 College, 197

Preparatory, 176 Specials, 44

Training School, 133

Talladega College, Talladega, Alabama, admirably located,
with an ample campus and large farm, is the immediate object
for which funds are being sought under the plan which the
American Missionary Association is following of strengthening
one by one its chartered institutions through special cam-
paigns. Some departments of the work of the college have
been in a depressed condition in recent years, but under the
Presidency of Rev. F. A. Sumner, D.D., who began his work
recently, new vigor is apparent in all lines. There were last
year 626 students, of whom 12 are in the theological school,
71 in college classes, 228 in preparatory courses, 326 in ele-
mentary grades and 51 doing special work.

Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, Mississippi, situated in the
open country a few miles north of Jackson, has an admii'able
opportunity to give its students training in farm work and
other forms of manual labor. It has long done a quiet and
steady work for pupils drawn from a wide area. Its propor-

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 201

tion of college students is naturally smaller than that of the
other institutions. Last year's enrollment was 422, of whom
12 were in college classes, 198 in secondary grades and 176
in elementary and special work.

Tillotson College, Austin, Texas, the youngest of our five
colleges for Negroes, has 34 college students, 165 in secondary
grades, with 59 in elementary or special courses, a total of
258.

Straight College, New Orleans, Louisiana, has an atten-
dance which is predominantly, though by no means exclusively,
from New Orleans. The type of life and work is naturally
affected by this fact. The school has a very desirable location
on Canal Street, with a plant of considerable value. College
students last year numbered 37, secondary 357, elementary
and special 181, a total of 558.

Three of the above institutions were visited by the Deputa-
tion. The fidehty and wisdom with which the work is being
carried forward were everywhere evident. In the long and
trying road which the Negroes of our nation must traverse
before they come to the reahzation of their possibihties and
the full enjoyment of their privileges, these schools are render-
ing an indispensable service.

Advanced Schools for White Students
Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida. The Deputation
is glad to speak with confident hope of the prospects of this
college, with its New England ideal of education, its beautiful
campus, its valuable plant and its wide field.

President George M. Ward, who gave to the early history of
the institution ten successful years of leadership, ending in
1902, consented in the fall of 1916 to resume his old position
with the title of Acting President. The work of the college
is already responding to his guidance. The school ought to
become, and with a continuance of favoring conditions will
become, one of the most important of the institutions affiliated
with Congregationalism. It ought to have a warm place in
the interest of our entire fellowship. It has an enrollment of
something over 200.

Piedmont College, Demorest, Georgia, situated in the foot-
hills of the southern highlands, is in admirable position to

202 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

serve not only the boys and girls from the mountains, but
those from the plains. From its beginning some fifteen years
years ago, it has been dependent in large degree upon the
boundless faith and courage of Rev. Dr. Frank E. Jenkins,
who is now its President. It has illustrated in completest
fashion what may be done with scantiest means and against
many obstacles when adequate leadership may be had and
devoted lives enlisted. The current year has brought a large
increase of students, and friends in increasing numbers are
providing the means to care for them.

The Deputation gave Piedmont a prominent place in its
itinerary and in its deliberations, and are persuaded that we
have no institution under the care of our fellowship more
needed and more promising. Generous gifts will be required
to put the institution on a solid foundation. If we have the
vision and the willingness to create such a foundation, the
school will, beyond question, become in process of time a
renewed demonstration of the service that can be rendered
by a denomination which honestly believes in Christian edu-
cation and proves its faith by its work. The enrollment is as

follows :

College 93

Preparatory 261

Elementary 246

Total 600

Atlanta Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia. Among
the most courageous things ever undertaken by representa-
tives of Congregationalism was the founding of Atlanta Semi-
nary. Located in a region where the denomination has but
little strength, with no initial gift of any size with which to
launch the undertaking, it required a steady vision of what
such a school would mean to us and to the South in order to
inspire the effort to establish it. This vision was present and
in the early years of the century the undertaking was launched.
Its basis and justification lay in the fact that if we purpose to
have a share in the religious life of the South we must have
leaders indigenous to the soil and they must be trained under
the influence of Congregational ideals.

The project has gone forward quite as rapidly as its authors
dared to hope. A large and growingly valuable tract of land

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 203

has been acquired, buildings adequate to the needs of the
school erected, and something hke one hundred men gradu-
ated. Most of these have had no college education and many
of them scarcely more than a grammar school course. But in
not a few cases they have used their opportunities so well as
to become effective ministers of the Gospel. The Seminary, of
course, confronts puzzling problems and has a long struggle
before it can render the type^of service needed. But it has
made a good beginning and should have the hearty support of
the denomination. The enrollment of recent years has been
from 20 to 30. It has very recently entered into an affiliated
relation with Piedmont College which promises distinct ad-
vantage for both institutions and for the cause they seek to
serve.

Hastings H. Hart
Charles W. Davidson
Edwin C. Norton
Hubert C. Herring

204 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [l917

SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT OF COMMISSION
ON MISSIONS

- NATIONAL PLAN OF BENEVOLENCE

A. Higher Standard
Resolution I

Desperate needs and overwhelming opportunities for
Christian service throughout the world call for a consecra-
tion in giving never yet attained by our churches.

Resolved, therefore, that every Congregational church
be asked to review its record with repentance for any past
shortcomings and with the purpose to reach at once a worthier
standard of Christian benevolence.

B. Stewardship
Resolution II — Christian Stewardship

We belong to the richest and most privileged nation
of the world. Our burdens as citizens are much lighter
than those of the rest of mankind. As a denomination we
enjoy our full share of the wealth and prosperity of our
nation. By every law of Christian gratitude and honor our
blessings should " abound unto riches of liberality."

On the contrary our gifts are not from the many but
from the few. Comparing our benevolence with our ability
it is clear that the great body of our constituency is very
largely unresponsive to its acknowledged duty to God and
to His suffering children. Too widely has our giving been
penurious and spasmodic; our self-expenditures thoughtlessly
wasteful and extravagant. Our standards of benevolence —
largely unsacrificial — fall below those of many of the poverty-
stricken native Christians of unprivileged lands upon whom
crushing misfortunes of oppression rest. We believe this
deplorable condition is due to the fact that the advocacy
and the cultivation of the duty of Christian Stewardship
has been neglected among us.

Resolved, therefore, that we urge our churches hence-
forth to give this fundamental principle of Christian Steward-
ship the chief place and emphasis in their plans for benevo-
lence.

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 205

Resolution III — Enrollment of Members
To secure the definiteness and the universal support that
a successful campaign of Christian Stewardship will require,
Resolved, that we recommend that the Sunday before
Thanksgiving Day be observed as Pilgrim Thanksgiving
Sunday in commemoration of the ideals and achievements
of our forefathers and that, this year, on the Sunday named
(Nov. 25, 1917) our churches be asked to present the Pilgrim
Covenant of Stewardship as the basis of a nation-wide en-
rollment of our membership in proportionate giving — an
enrollment to be followed up by all wise means until it has
been made substantially complete.

Pilgrim Covenant of Stewardship
Recognizing that all I am and all I have came from God,
I solemnly agree with Him faithfully to set aside a definite
proportion of my income to be regularly paid to such religious
and benevolent agencies as I may elect.

(For the coming year this proportion shall be %.)

Signed

Dated

Note: — It is proposed that the above covenant, on a 3x5 filing card,
bearing the seal of the National Council, be distributed for signatures
(percentage to be indicated or not as the signer may prefer) each church
then issuing to those of its constituency uniting in this covenant a National
Council certificate of such membership — both enlistment and certificate
bearing on reverse side (a) brief reasons for the practice of Stewardship in
giving, (b) suggestions as to the proportion to be given and (c) an appeal
for a more generous provision for the church and its mission boards and
their great needs in the percentage of distribution.

Resolution IV — The Church First
As the areas and departments of service of our churches
(international, national and local) have enormously increased
under the inrush of modern responsibilities, and as for many
years the trend of large giving has been rather towards the
support of civic, educational and philanthropic institutions
than of the more fundamental religious needs,

Resolved, that we request our people in the distribu-
tion of their benevolences to make more generous provision
for these basic interests, by giving the chief place to the claims
of the church or placing them on a plane that shall at least
be equal to that of our giving for the school and for the state.

206 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

C. Missionary Education
Resolution V — Missionary Education
Realizing that the lack of missionary education and
of a definite missionary program are fruitful causes of low
standards of giving,

Resolved, that we urge upon every church as an essential
in the promotion of benevolence the immediate adoption of
a program of missionary education which shall include at
least the following items:

1. At least four missionary educational Sundays
for the presentation of the work of the Boards from the
pulpit.

2. Organized study groups using by preference the
study books recognized by the denominational Boards.
This should include a series of such studies in the mid-
week service, in the young people's organization, in
the women's organization, in the men's organization,
and especially in the Sunday School by means of the
plan of the Tercentenary Efficiency Chart.

3. The circulation of missionary periodicals and other
missionary literature.

4. Relationship with missionaries and mission fields
either by adopting one or more to be supported by the
church or by the cultivation of other personal relation-
ships.

Resolution VI — Publishing Records
Since it is evident that the membership of our churches
does not realize how meagre our gifts are, it is essential that
the records be known.

Resolved, that we request the publication and whole-
sale distribution of the facts by each state conference in
diagram form and in quantity sufficient to reach every mem-
ber of its churches, showing the grades of giving of the churches
of the state as a whole, with provision for the record of each
church as well, and that we ask the National Council office to
assist the state conferences in the preparation of the data
for such a nation-wide campaign of information.

Note: — A diagram similar to the one following is suggested for this
purpose.

1917]

THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS

207

WASHINGTON — 1916 RECORD

Resident Membership, 13,667. Gifts to Board, $28,031

Average gift per member per week, 3.44 cents

No. of
Ch's

Weclcly
Avge. Gift
per Mb'r

For Record of Our Church See X
in Column at Right

Where

Our
Church

Stands

5 cts.

4-5 cts.
3-4 "
2-3 "
1-2 "
1 "
Nothing

Tercentenary Average line of 5 cts.

per member per week needed

to reach two millions

ment.

Churches above the line 15. B':'low the line 186.

Gifts above the line ^d. Below the line fds.

Churches making E. M. C. ' ^Meeting full Apportion-

Resolution VII — Trained Leaders

On capable pastoral initiative more than on anj'^ other
human factor depends the progress of the church. Stagna-
tion in giving is the usual result of a ministry timid, careless
or ignorant with regard to missionary facts, plans and obli-
gations. In view of the abundant provision made by our
national agencies to overcome such hindrances,

Resolved, that this Council express its convictions of
the absolute necessity — if we are to have any successful
missionary leadership in this day — of a thorough mastery
and advocacy, on the part of the minister, of the denomina-
tional programs and plans for the promotion of efficiency in
organization and beneficence.

Resolved, that such training schools for the ministry
as seek Congregational patronage be formally requested by
the National Council to include in their curriculum an ade-
quate course in Congregational benevolent ideals and methods.

Resolved, that the National Council, with the help cf
the secretaries of our national societies, and the officers of

208 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

our state conferences, do all in their power to help our ministers
to lead their churches in missionary education and giving;
this to be accomplished by means of institutes, schools of
methods, the use of the programs of local associations and
state meetings and by friendship and efficiency campaigns.

D. Local Missionary Administration
Resolution VIII — Methods

Recognizing that wide experience is clearly showing
that certain methods of administration are not only profitable
but necessary for the projection of organized missionary
endeavor.

Resolved, that we urge every church so to perfect its
organization and so to transact its missionary business as to
provide at least the following features :

1. A standing committee on missions representing
all departments of the church.

2. Adoption annually of a budget of benevolences,
the total to amount to not less than the apportionment
suggested to the church.

3. A system of missionary education as recommended
in the Resolution V; this to be referred to the com-
mittee on missions for operation. But where the church
has a committee on religious education this program
should be referred also to such committee on religious
education to be operated jointly by it and the committee
on missions.

4. A yearly Every Member Canvass. Specifications
will be furnished by the office of the National Council.

5. A system of weekly payments clearly separating
the monies for benevolences from all other funds.

6. The enrollment of proportionate givers as under
Resolution III.

7. A careful plan of accounting both to the givers
individually and to the church as a whole.

8. Payments at least quarterly to the agencies for
which the gifts are designated.

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 209

E. Manual of Benevolence
Resolution IX

Resolved, that we commend to all the churches and to
all who are interested in the promotion of benevolences the
Manual of Benevolence prepared by Dr. Burton and published
by the National Council with the cooperation of the Mis-
sionary Boards.

F. Apportionment
Resolution X — Part of a Comprehensive Plan

A decade of Apportionment has secured good results
in promoting unity, system, steadiness and a large sense of
responsibility in our giving. It has also revealed certain
defects which tend to make our benevolence mechanical and
lacking in initiative, vision and enthusiasm.

Resolved, therefore, that to conserve its advantages
and avoid its dangers our churches be urged to emphasize
constantly its educative purpose, its minimum goal, its pro-
gressive possibilities and its dependence on the principle of
Christian Stewardship.

Resolution XI — Revision

Under the Tercentenary incentive we believe the time
has come for a careful review of the Apportionment figures.

Resolved, therefore, that we recommend that a re-
vision of the Apportionment schedule and percentages be
made in the light of experience and in the interest of fairness
and effectiveness, full hearings to be given to all interested
parties, both State and National, and that the new schedule
be worked out on the principle of securing a steady growth
in giving on the part of both states and churches.

Resolution XII — Annual Schedules

Resolved, that we recommend that the Apportion-
ments to the states be prepared each year by the Commis-
sion on Missions and the National Apportionment Secretary
in conference with the State Committee, the State Superin-
tendents and the Representatives of our National Boards.

210 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

Resolution XIII — Special Causes

Resolved, that until our giving has arisen above the
minimum two miUions required for the work of our National
Societies and adopted as our Tercentenary goal, w^e approve
the plan of crediting on the Apportionment, only the gifts
to the regular budgets of our National Boards.

This is not intended to exclude urgent special needs, but
it is earnestly recommended that our churches make their
gifts to these extra causes truly " special " by first under-
writing their Apportionments for the regular work.

Resolution XIV — Standardized Procedure

Resolved, that we recommend to the state Confer-
ences the following procedure in their handling of the Appor-
tionment:

1. Acceptance of National Schedule —

That the State and District Apportionment Com-
mittees be urged to apportion to the churches the full amount
suggested by the Commission after conference with the State
Committees as provided for by resolutions XI and XII.

2. State Direction —

That all apportionments to the churches be sent out
by the State Committees after full consultation, wherever
possible, with the Committees of District Associations.

3. Uniform Percentages —

That in the interest of a steadier support of our Boards,
the State Committees be urged gradually to work toward the
percentages adopted by the National Council, following them
uniformly in the case of the societies that require the smaller
incomes (the A. M. A., C. C. B. S., C. E. S., S. S. & P. S. and
M. R.) and in the case of Home and Foreign Missions, where
the greatest variations occur, approximating the national
figures as rapidly as possible.

4. Minimum Goal —

That every church whose minimum apportionment
falls below 5 cents per member per week — the necessary
average for the gross membership of the church if the two

1917] THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS 211

millions are to be raised — be urged to make special efforts
to reach this amount and thus make it the minimum goal in
its Missionary giving.

5. Uniform Credits —

That to help to stimulate the giving of the churches a
uniform system of credits be adopted, including in the pub-
lished Conference Minutes and in the Apportionment lists
sent to the churches:

(1) A Comparative Apportionment Schedule by which
the churches are listed according to the amount of
their apportionments.

(2) A column of total " apportionment receipts " in
which, in the case of every church reaching its full
Apportionment the sum is printed in heavy-faced type.

6. Educational Emphasis —

That the Apportionment schedules carry a brief but
comprehensive statement of the entire plan of benevolence,
with special plea that in each local church all matters of
Apportionment be associated with careful missionary edu-
cation, and the promotion of systematic and proportionate
giving.

Resolution XV — Inquiries
Resolved, that we recommend for the convenience of
the State Conferences the addition of four questions to the
Annual Year Book Report, as follows:

1. Has your church adopted a missionary budget for
the coming year?

2. Its amount?

3. Does it equal or exceed its apportionment?

4. Has it made an Every Member Canvass for meeting
its missionary obligations, for the coming year?

Resolution XVI — Church Visitation

Resolved, that as a most efficient means of bringing
Missionary methods and enthusiasm to the churches we
urge that an " Every Church Visitation," by teams of pastors,
be organized and pushed as extensively as possible in each
Conference, with the enlistment of all available workers of
the National Societies in oo-operation with the state forces.

212 THE COMMISSION ON MISSIONS [1917

A STUDY OF PER CAPITA GIVING OF THE STATES

Res. 1916 Wkly. Gifts. Present

Rank State Member Gifts per Mbr. Appor't

1 N. J. 9,463 33,600 6.82 $ 32,000

2 Mass. 111,882 319,934 5.48 485,000

3 S. Cal. 15,223 41,792 5.29 50,000

4 Mo. 9,492 26,126 5.25 40,000

5 R. I. 8,309 21,883 5.06 31 500

6 Conn. 68,026 155,038 4.38 250,000

7 111. 50,859 113,998 4.31 200,000

8 Vt. 16,936 35,797 4.06 48,000

9 N. Cal. 13,729 28,574 4.00 42,000

10 D. C. 2,881 5,955 3.97 9,000

11 N. H. 15,319 31,266 3.92 45,000

12 Me. 17,203 32,371 3.62 43,000

13 Minn. 20,052 37,367 3.58 "60,000

14 Wis. 25,293 46,248 3.52 60,000

15 Wash. 13,667 28,031 3.44 40,000

16 Neb. 16,717 27,920 3.10 34,000

17 W. Va. 263 416 3.04 700

18 N. Y. 55,574 87,267 3.02 150,000

19 Ohio 39,306 61,390 2.97 86,300

20 Iowa 34,899 51,081 2.82 75,000

21 Ariz. 416 610 2.82 800

22 Mich. 30,870 43,258 2.69 75,000

23 Ore. 5,065 6,852 2.60 9,000

24 Kan. 14,724 18,805 2.46 30,000

25 N. Mex. 259 304 2.26 250

26 S. Dak. 10,229 11,702 2.20 15,000

27 Colo. 10,638 11,857 2.14 22,000

28 Fla. 2,596 2,815 2.13 4,000

29 N. Dak. 7,357 8,124 2.12 12,000

30 T. H. 7,885 7,347 1.79 10,000

31 Md. 757 698 1.77 1,800

32 Ind. 5,226 4,791 1.76 6,000

33 Nev. 251 180 1.38 250

34 N. C. (W) 345 230 1.30 150

35 Utah 1,342 897 1.29 1,000

36 Ida. 2,416 1,569 1.25 2,000

37 Mont. 3,241 1,957 1.16 1,800

38 Okla. 3,168 1,793 1.09 4,000

39 Wyo. 1,669 896 1.03 1,200

40 Tex. 3,122 1,478 .91 3 000

41 Ky. 592 261 .82 300

42 Penn. 15,525 6,525 .81 17,000

43 Va. 341 132 .75 400

44 Tenn. (C) 710 235 .64 500

45 Tenn. (W) 996 298 .57 500

46 Ala. (C) 1,494 282 .36 600

47 Ga. (W) 3,395 588 .33 1,800

48 Alaska 373 50 .26 200

49 La. (C) 765 79 .20 600

50 Ga. (C) 2,255 219 .19 500

51 Ala. (W) 2,635 242 .18 500

52 S C. 569 47 .16 200

53 La. (W) 765 504 .12 600

54 N. C. (C) 2,290 175 .12 1,000

55 Ark. 618 37 .12 100

56 Miss. 255 6 .05 200

57 P. R. 781 20 ^3 100

Contributions under Apportionment Plan, $1,321,987.
Other and Special Congregational Gifts, $668,493,
Undenominational Gifts, $902,681.

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON
EVANGELISM

The Composition of the Commission

According to the policy of the National Council to have its
Commissions represent the churches geographically, the jCom-
mission on Evangelism has been composed of seven men,
scattered between the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts. This
has made a meeting of the entire Commission impossible and
reduced the possibility of united action to such measures as
could be determined by correspondence. The disadvantage
of this is apparent. Your Commission recommends that
either:

1. A Commission of seven be appointed as heretofore, but
composed of persons within access to one center, so that there
may be conferences of the full Commission ; or,

2. The Commission be enlarged by the appointment of
several laymen whose interests are especially in the field of
evangehsm, and that an Executive Committee of the Com-
mission be appointed, so located that they may meet fre-
quently.

We also recommend that the Home Missionary Society
and the Education Boards be represented on the Commission.

The Evangelistic Temper of the Congregational
Churches

The General Secretary of the Commission on Evangelism
of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America speaks
with discrimination in a recent report, saying,

" The Commission has sought to encourage the various
denominations in whatever type of evangelism seems best
suited to their own genius and temperament."

Your Commission acted upon this principle in forming
such plans as seemed possible of reahzation under the hmited
conditions as to composition and budget which were im-
posed upon it.

The genius of the Congregational churches is toward pas-
toral, educational and personal evangelism, rather than

213

214 COMMISSION ON EVANGELISM [1917

toward the tabernacle campaign under the leadership of the
vocational evangelist. Our churches do not pass by or dis-
parage this last factor in evangelistic effort; but they work
best with the more quiet and permanent agencies for the
achievement of the evangelistic task.

The Work of the Commission

Therefore the Commission outlined for the work of the
biennium the following duties :

1. A Study of the Evangelistic Organization of the Denomi-
nation.

We discovered that the churches as a body were not mobi-
lized in any adequate way for the discharge of their evange-
■ listic task, and that such agencies as were at work knew little
or nothing of the activities of the others.

The majority of the states have permanent Committees
or Commissions on Evangelism; but the efficiency of these
often depends upon the zeal of a single chairman, and there
is not a sufficient sense of hearty backing on the part of the
State Conferences.

There are few permanent Committees in Associations.
Your Commission is not inclined to press the organization
back into the local Association but to stop with the state
bodies, using every effort to make these more effective.

The organization of the individual church has not been
investigated to any extent; but there have come to light
many cases in which the local congregation is thoroughly
organized for its evangelistic work. If this could be made a
universal condition, the task of Commissions of the National
Council and State Conferences would be reduced to the
function of caring for union movements and encouraging and
guiding local churches needing help.

Your Commission recommends, therefore, that the work
of mobihzing the denomination for its evangelistic task in
accord with its temper should be pressed forward in the
following ways:

a. By coordinating more closely the work of the National
Council Commission on Evangehsm with the similar activities
of the Home Missionary Society and the Education Boards.

1917J COMMISSION ON EVANGELISM 215

The principle inspires the recommendation that the Com-
mission be enlarged:

b. By securing the appointment of a Commission on
Evangelism in each State Conference, with whom the National
Council Commission shall work by correspondence, and,
whenever possible, by personal conference.

Among the states which are thus already efficiently organ-
ized we have noted with satisfaction New Hampshire. Your
Commission would do well to define in a carefully studied
paper " The Organization and Functions of a State Com-
mission on Evangehsm," and then work steadily to develop
and standardize the denomination in accordance with its
findings in this particular.

c. By encouraging the support of a sufficient number of
state evangelists. There is a sense of local interest and pride
in the State Conferences which should be utilized more fully
in the evangelistic field. States can give a closeness of fellow-
ship and supervision to th^ program of evangelism within
their own borders which is impossible under the individual
leadership of the vocational evangehst working independently,
or under any kind of direction from national headquarters.

Illinois is doing effective work in this way. Your Com-
mission recommends that the National Council express its
strong judgment in favor of the employment of state evange-
lists and that your Commission work actively to promote
this item in the evangelistic program of the denomination.

d. By providing for the enlarged activities of the Com-
mission in accordance with details to be presented later in
this report under the title, " A Forward Movement."

2. Literature for the Guidance of the Churches.

Having defined its work, namely, to stimulate the churches
to undertake their evangelistic task, chiefly through their
own workers and resources, it appeared that there was need
of literature for their use.

Your Commission has endeavored to circulate the pam-
phlets which have already been published by the various
boards in America, copies of which have been gathered and
are among the properties of the Commission.

We then proceeded to publish two booklets of envelope
size, entitled, " Evangelism Church Wide " and " The Church

216 COMMISSION ON EVANGELISM [1917

Mission," expressing the ideal of the Commission and giving
practical suggestions for its reahzation. We also aided in
the circulation of the valuable pamphlet by Dr. A. Z. Conrad,
entitled " Win One More."

Your Commission believes that this work of publication
should be continued.

Pastors are urged to write to the Commission on Evange-
Hsm of the Federal Council, 105 East 22nd St., New York
City, for literature. Their bibliography is especially useful.

3. Correspondence and Counsel

The Commission has gathered during the two years a hst
of Conference Committees on Evangelism and has carried
on a correspondence which has sometimes taxed the
volunteer resources of the Commission to the limit, for there
has been no provision for stenographic help and every economy
has been practiced in order not to cut into the scanty budget.

The resources of the National Council office have been
put at the command of the Commission most freely and by
this means the pastors have been reached each year with
an appeal for emphasis upon the evangelistic work of the
church, the literature of the Commission has been circulated
and a large number of responses and inquiries has come to
the Commission.

No report can be made as to the results of the letters sent
in reply to specific inquiries; but there have been many of
these. In each case the Commission has attempted to give
concrete counsel and to stimulate the efforts of correspondents
with encouragement.

4. Accrediting Evangelists.

Your Commission is not clear as to the extent to which it
should go in accrediting evangelists. According to our Con-
gregational custom those who are Congregational have their
ministerial standing in their proper groups, and such groups
ought to vouch for them. On the other hand it would be to
the advantage of churches seeking the service of accredited
evangelists if they could refer to the Council Commission
for information. Also we have considered the judgment of
the Federal Council Commission to the effect that there should
be such a clearing-house of information as your Commission

1917] COMMISSION ON EVANGELISM 217

could become if it were to gather and furnish information
concerning all Congregationahsts in the evangehstic field,
referring to the papers of the Federal Council Commission
for all inquiries concerning men whose standing is in other
denominations.

We therefore have used the blank of the Federal Council
Commission, in order that the information may be standard-
ized so far as the questions asked are concerned, and have
made a beginning with a list of men of Congregational stand-
ing in the evangelistic field.

Relations with the Commission of the Federal Council

One of the pleasant experiences of the two years has been
the relationship which we have maintained with the Com-
mission on Evangelism of the Federal Council through its
Secretary, Dr. Wm. E. Biederwolf.

At this point we therefore bring to the attention of the
National Council the proposal of the Federal Council Com-
mission for a Nation- Wide Campaign of Evangehstic Work to
be conducted under its auspices.

The detailed plan has been for some months before your
Commission and correspondence has been carried on ex-
tensively between the members concerning it. Unfortunately
it has been impossible for the Commission to meet for a dis-
cussion of the details of the plan and it is impossible for so
extensive a program as this to be outlined with equal clearness
on all points in a pamphlet. There has been no lack of hearty
agreement on the part of your Commission that the evange-
listic work of our churches should be pushed in every possible
way. There has been some doubt expressed by its members
concerning the wisdom of the Federal Council Commission's
Plan in some of its emphasis and detail. Since the meeting
of the Federal Council in St. Louis, however, the results of
the discussion to which the Plan was subjected appears in a
strengthened program, in which every aspect of evangelism
is appropriated and a steady comprehensive campaign is
announced.

Your Commission therefore recommends that the National
Council express its approval of the Plan of the Federal Council
Commission for a Nation-Wide Campaign of Evangelistic

218 COMMISSION ON EVANGELISM [1917

Work, especially endorsing its use of all the agencies of the
church, pastoral, personal, vocational and federated, which
can be called into being in communities, and laying especial
emphasis upon rural evangelism.

A FoRWAED Movement

We now come to the most important item in the report of
your Commission.

During the last year the Home Missionary Society has been
pressing with great effectiveness a program of evangelism
among the missionary churches. This has yielded results of
great importance to the growth of the churches, as is shown
by figures in the possession of the officers of the Society. Your
Commission has been keenly interested in this work and
believes that it marks the beginning of a most hopeful en-
deavor to realize the aim of the Tercentenary program.
While there has been no specific cooperation between the
Home Missionary Society and your Commission in this
movement, there has been most sympathetic relations between
the two agencies. We are convinced that the time has now
come for a distinct forward movement by the National Council
through its agencies in the line marked out by the Home
Missionary Society.

A resolution adopted at a meeting of the Church Exten-
sion Boards, is before your Commission in substance as
follows:

" That the National Council empower the Com-
mission on Evangelism to secure funds sufficient
amply to meet the requirements of the Tercentenary
-Program."

Your Commission believes that the time has come when
it is necessary to make trial of this general recom-
mendation in some form. There are undoubtedly many
members of our churches who are deeply interested in
a broad program of evangelism, which shall embrace all
possible agencies for Christian extension and shall be
in accord with the genius of our denomination. We there-
fore are in favor of undertaking this responsibility, in

1917] COMMISSION ON EVANGELISM 219

the terms of the second resolution. But your Commission
would call the attention of the National Council to the fact
that it is easy to pass a vote to " empower " the Commission
to do a piece of hard work; but unless the members of the
Council will personally stand behind the plan and support
it with their gifts and their cooperation, the Commission can
move forward with httle hope of success.

Another item in the resolution of the Church Extension
Boards is as follows:

" That the Congregational Home Missionary
Society be requested to put its organization at the
disposal of the National Council as the administrative --
apparatus for the operation of this plan."

Your Commission heartily recommends this item to the
National Council for favorable consideration. The economy
of this plan is apparent. We would wish, however, so to guard
the relationship that it should not appear that the larger
program of the Council executed through its Commission on
Evangehsm were a movement for the missionary churches
alone. The new plan must be inclusive of all the churches
throughout the country.

Items in the New Plan

1. Purpose.

The purpose of the movement is to stimulate and guide
the Congregational churches of America to undertake with
increased earnestness and according to the best methods that
have been tested and approved, the work of extending the
gospel by presenting the claims of Christ to men.

Therefore conferences ought to be held for the discussion
of the subject and the training of workers. Literature must
be provided that shall set forth the best methods of work in
various fields. And all the agencies for the extension of the
gospel must be made available, so far as possible, for the
churches.

So extensive a program will require time to vindicate its
effectiveness. It is not too much to ask that it be under-
written and supported for a term of at least five years.

220 COMMISSION ON EVANGELISM [1917

2. Administration.

So far as office rent and facilities are concerned, the proposi-
tion to make use of the resources of the Home Missionary
Society reduces the expense to a minimum.

But it is manifestly impossible to carry on such a program
without the service of a Secretary, who shall give his whole
time to the work.

3. Secretary.

He must be a man who is most earnestly devoted to the
great task of evangelism. He must be able to conduct oc-
casional church missions and to commend the work of evangel-
ism to the churches.

4. Budget.

Your Commission estimates that with a budget of
$6,000 per year this new movement could be inaugurated.
They therefore recommend to the Council that the Com-
mission on Evangelism be instructed to proceed with the
inauguration of the forward movement outlined above, for
a term of at least five years, and that their work be com-
mended to churches and individuals for financial support.

Your Commission reahzes that this is only a beginning,
and that one Secretary working out from New York could,
under the most favorable circumstances, touch only a rela-
tively small number of churches. But the wisdom of begin-
ning in a small way is self-evident. Your Commission would
hope confidently that before a year had passed the work
would have grown to such an extent that enlargement rather
than retrenchment would be the will of the churches.

OzoRA S. Davis, Chairman.
Ernest Bourner Allen
Hugh Elmer Brown
A. Z. Conrad
Paul Dwight Moody
Fred B. Smith
William E. Sweet

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON
SOCIAL SERVICE

The Commission held its first meeting soon after its appoint-
ment by the New Haven Council and organized with Charles
R. Brown as Chairman and Henry A. Atkinson as Executive
Secretary.

Under the reorganization of the Societies as voted by the
Council the work of this Commission was brought under
the care and direction of the Congregational Education
Society. A new department was created within the Educa-
tion Society, the Secretary of the Commission was elected
as Secretary of the Department, and the work began under
the new auspices October 1, 1916.

The Social Service Commission holds an advisory relation-
ship to the Social Service Department of the Education
Society, which is the executive agency for the Commission.

One of the most difficult problems that the Department
has to face is occasioned by the multiplicity of interests that
press upon it. The Council committed to the care of the
Social Service Commission these interests: Men's Work,
Industry, Rural Life, Organized Charity, Social Purity and
the Work for the Welfare of Enhsted Men in the Army and
Navy. So many things have demanded attention in the
various fields, and all of them are so vitally significant, that
it has been difficult at times to know just how to preserve a
due proportion between interests and to keep the whole
within feasible bounds.

Our denominational cooperation in the work being done in
behalf of the enhsted men of the Army and Navy has here-
tofore been cared for by a separate Commission, but at New
Haven this work was committed to the Social Service Com-
mission.

That Commission, feehng that it should work in harmony
with the corresponding Commission of the Federal Council
of Churches of Christ, and with the recently reorganized
Religious Welfare League for Army and Navy, with head-
quarters at Washington, D. C, appointed a Committee of

221

222 COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE [1917

five, residents in Washington, as a " Cooperating Committee
on Welfare of Enlisted Men." Rev. Clarence A. Vincent,
Rev. Edwin M. Bliss, Rev. A. C. Garner, Mr. William Knowles
Cooper, Mr. Henry T. Ofterdinger. This Committee or-
ganized with Clarence A. Vincent as Chairman and Edwin M.
Bliss, Secretary. Two members of the Committee were also
members of the Religious Welfare League and of the Execu-
tive Committee of the Federal Council Washington Com-
mittee, so that there has been complete coordination of effort,
especially since the reorganization in January, 1917, of the
Washington Committee of the Federal Council.

The Religious Welfare League had succeeded in securing
some changes in the Army Regulations which greatly improved
the status of Chaplains in that branch of the Service, and
special effort was made at once to come in touch with the
Secretaries of War and Navy in order to secure their co-
operation in the matter of appointments. There had been a
quasi-agreement by which the different religious bodies in
the country were assigned a certain quota, but this had not
been uniformly carried out.

One of the first steps taken was to clarify the situation as
to the number to be actually appointed and take measures
to secure appointments. The Secretaries of the two Depart-
ments affected were most cordial in meeting the representa-
tions made and a working plan was devised as follows :

All applications for appointment to chaplaincies in
the Army and Navy are handed over to the Washing-
ton Committee of the Federal Council, which also
organized a special committee on Chaplains. This
Committee hands the applications to a special com-
mittee appointed by the denominations. The de-
nominational committee looks up the applicant's
ecclesiastical record, makes full inquiry as to his
fitness or adaptability to service as chaplain, includ-
ing educational and social service qualifications, and
reports to the Federal Council Committee its recom-
mendation. The Federal Council Committee then
reviews these recommendations and sends to the
Department its report. The final action is by the

1917] COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE 223

Departments and follows a physical examination
and general consideration of the needs of the service
and personal qualifications.

On this basis the Congregational Committee has received
over 75 appUcations for chaplaincies, permanent or tempo-
rary, in the Army or Navy. These have been investigated
and 23 have been endorsed and approved by the denomi-
national and Federal Council Committees and 12 have been
forwarded to the proper Departments. Of these, 2 have
(up to September 10th) received commissions, 1 has with-
drawn and 9 remain on file waiting final action by the De-
partments.

In view of the uncertainties in regard to appointments,
resulting from congestion in the Government Departments,
changes in Army organization, the necessity sometimes of
extended inquiry to meet Government requirements, etc., a
considerable number of applicants, who have been most
heartily approved by the Committee but who have not yet
received appointments, are identifying themselves with the
Y. M. C. A. service, while their apphcations are held by
the Committee in case opportunity offers for appointment.
The situation is one that calls for most careful consideration
on the part of the whole denomination.

Program

The following is the outline program of this Department.
It conceives its functions to be:

To make known the social principles of Christianity.

To arouse the spirit of social service in our churches.

To secure the cooperation of the churches with all other
agencies doing social service work. »

To outline programs for churches in their work for com-
munity betterment.

To interpret the gospel of Jesus Christ and the new purpose
of the church to industrial workers.

To represent the denomination in official capacity at
meetings where labor and social subjects are discussed.

To study and give leadership within the denomination for

224 COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE [1917

service in bettering the' rural conditions and making more
effective the ministry of our country churches.

To study the social waste caused by vice, crime and bad
economic conditions, and to develop programs for meeting
these needs.

To organize, develop, unify and inspire the masculine
forces of the denomination. This is to be done by providing
leaders, voluntary and executive, as far as possible throughout
the nation to serve the men and boys of the churches and
communities. The men's organization in the local church is
recognized as the unit of value in the national movement. The
work of the local organization to be made strong and effective
as a part of the regular program of the local church.

This program is to be realized through the educational
activities within the church; through propaganda by means
of literature; secretarial visitation; conferences to be held
in the schools and colleges; social evangehstic campaigns, and
through addresses, lectures, sermons and a speaker's bureau.
The Department offers expert service in investigation in
parish and community service, and in advising with church
clubs and communities as to social programs, and in furnishing
workers for special and specific tasks.

The ideal of the Department is expressed in this phrase:
" The Social Service Department seeks to promote the ex-
pression of the Christian Spirit in all life-relations."

Secretarial Visitation
The Secretary has responded to calls for addresses and
conferences to the limit of his time and ability to meet engage-
ments. Definite campaigns have been conducted in several
cities. The Department has cooperated actively with the
Tercentenary Commission, the Home Missionary Society,
the American Missionary Association, and with the other
departments of the Education Society. Two months were
given to visitation among the colleges and universities of the
middle west. The Secretary cooperated in the series of life
work conferences with Secretary Frank M. Sheldon, Rev.
D. Brewer Eddy and President Ozora S. Davis. Fifteen
institutions were visited. The Secretary delivered 66 ad-
dresses and had private interviews with 194 students; attended

1917] COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE 225

and addressed three meetings of Commercial Clubs; met
with 35 groups in conferences, and in all touched in some way
the hfe and interests of 7,780 students registered in these
institutions. The main purpose of the conferences was to
present the Christian ideals of service and urge men and
women to give themselves to a life of devotion to the common
good.

Investigations

A study was made through the Secretary of a strike in the
Fluor-Spar mines at Rosiclare, Illinois. The committee that
investigated this strike was appointed by the Federal Council
of the Churches. The report is to be made to the Federal
Council and the findings will probably be published in the
early fall.

An effort has been made to come into sympathetic relation-
ship with many of the business concerns of the country who
are adopting profit sharing schemes, and in other ways are
trying to work out the ideals of Jesus in their business.

The Secretary has visited a number of cities at the request
of local groups, as well as of the Home Missionary Society,
and has made a preliminary study of sections of these cities
with a view to the relocation of churches, or the expansion of
church work. Sections of Fall River, Mass., Denver, Col., and
Philadelphia, Penn., have been studied in this way.

The Department has attempted to meet its obligations in
the rural field. Several pieces of literature have been pub-
lished; the program for the rural church widely circulated;
and an illustrated lecture on Country Life prepared and made
available for our churches.

Surveys
A survey was made of the parish of the Westminster Church,
Kansas City, Mo., and also of the town of Pepperell, Mass.
The latter was conducted in cooperation with Rev. Elmer S.
Forbes of the Social Service Department of the Unitarian
churches. A survey is under way at the present time of the
6th and 7th Wards in the City of Boston. The survey of the
6th Ward is being made in connection with the Shawmut
Congregational Church and that of the 7th Ward through
the Department of Sociology of Gordon Bible Institute.

226 COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE [1917

A survey was made of six counties in northern Georgia that
are directly tributary to Piedmont College. This mountain
region presents a definite call for service on the part of the
school. The survey was made with the assistance of the
Department of Sociology of Piedmont College. The report
embodies a program and outlines the ideals of this institution
and the plans for expansion that are to be realized in the near
future.

The preliminary work has been done in a survey of the
parish of the Church of the Redeemer, New Haven, Conn.

Other Secretarial Activities

The Secretary has represented the Commission, and through
it the denomination, at the meetings of the National Council
of Charities and Corrections, the Southern Sociological
Congress, the Southern Education Society and the Quadrennial
meeting of the Federal Council of the Churches held in St.
Louis.

The Secretary, together with Prof. Walter S. Athearn of
the Boston University, has outlined a plan for strengthening
the work in the Shawmut Congregational Church of Boston.
Under this plan the Secretary was elected Social Service
Director for the church, and Prof. Athearn, Director of Relig-
ious Education. The plan has in view not only the success
of this local church, but it is confidently expected that a method
can be worked out and means standardized whereby other
churches similarly located will be able to do their work effec-
tively in the communities that are so vitally changed by the
new conditions of city life.

The Secretary has accepted the position of professor of
sociology in the Gordon Bible Institute, Boston. Owing to
the fact that the Secretary is forced to be away from Boston
at least half the time, it is necessary to secure some one to
cooperate with him in the work of the institution. Miss
Barnes, one of the teachers, assumed this added burden.
Arrangements have now been made whereby Rev. D. M.
James, associate pastor of Shawmut church, will cooperate
with the Secretary during the coming year in this important
work.

The Secretary continues to prepare the Social Service

1917] COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE 227

oomments on the Sunday School lessons which appear in the
Adult Bible Class Magazine and the Home Department
Magazine of the Pilgrim series; is to have a part in the
editorial work on the new Pilgrim Magazine; has written for
the labor papers and the rehgious press as much as time would
permit. A booklet, " Arbitration in Industrial Disputes,"
was written for the Baptist Publication Society and has been
printed by them as a part of their social service series.

The Secretary and Prof. Fred B. Hill have under prepara-
tion a text book that can be used by Bible classes and men's
clubs. This will be pubhshed under the title " Remaking
the Social Order."

Cooperation with Other Denominations
The Secretary is a member of three of the Commissions of
the Federal Council of the Churches, and besides is one of its
Associate Secretaries. Thus the Department has been able
to keep in touch with the work that is being done in the field
of Social Service by other denominations.

In the very nature of the case the work of the Social Service
Department touches a wide range of subjects and interests.
This department is finding means of cooperation with all the
other agencies of our churches, as well as with similar Christian
agencies in other denominations.

War Work

The special tasks forced upon the church by the war have
necessitated some readjustments. Many of the denominations
have appointed War Work Commissions. Our own denomi-
nation delegated all this particular activity to the Social
Service Commission. The Secretary has cooperated with the
Federal Council in visiting army camps and cantonments and
is now serving on the War Work Council.

Mr. Hoover asked for a committee from the Congregational
Church to meet him in Washington. After such conference
with Mr. Hoover and his helpers, it was voted to ask the Social
Service Commission to assume responsibility for the work
connected with the Congregational Churches in relation to the
Conservation of Food. The Secretary went to Washington
and spent five days in studying the situation, making the

228 COMMISSION o^f social service [1917

acquaintance of the men in authority and learning what the
other denominations are doing. Dean Charles R. Brown
joined the Secretary and together they made arrangements for
opening an office under the direction of the Food Adminis-
tration officials. At the request of the Social Service Com-
mission, Mr. Hoover has officially appointed a committee of
fifty Congregationalists to become responsible for making
effective the Food Conservation Program in our churches.
The Social Service Commission sustains a very close relation-
ship to this Committee, and it is greatly gratified to be able
to report that President Emeritus Edward D. Eaton of
Beloit College has been secured to represent us at Washing-
ton in matters of food administration and has already
begun his duties. His expenses are met by the Food
Administration Department.

Publications

The following publications have been issued and distributed
by the Commission :

Social Service and Men's Work of the Congregational
Churches.

How to Organize the Men in the Local Church.

A Model Constitution.

The Business of the Men in the Local Church.

A Social Program for the Men's Organization in the
Church.

Industrial Platform. (Card)

The Church and Industrial Peace.

The Church and Industrial Warfare.

The Church and Industry.

The Church's Appeal in Behalf of Labor.

The Church and Modern Industry.

Continuous Toil and Continuous Toilers.

Report on the Industrial Situation at Bethkhem, Pa.

Report on the Industrial Situation at Muscatine, Iowa.

What Every Church Should Know About Its Community.

Community Study of Clinton Avenue Church Parish,
Brooklyn, N. Y.

Rural Life and a Program for the Rural Church.

1917] COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE 229

Outline Study in Christianity and Rural Life Problems.
Community Thinking in the Country Town Church.
Factors Which have to do With the Dechne of the Country
Church.

Program of the Social Service Department.

Social Service for Young People.

The Open Forum,

Social Studies for Adult Classes.

A Social Service Catechism.

Save Our Soldiers and Sailors.

Hymn of the New Crusade. (Card)

The Least of These. (Poem on Card)

Daily Tasks at Ellis Island.

Motion Pictures in Religious and Educational Work.

Lantern Slide Leaflet.

Social Purity.

Slide Bureau

The following illustrated lectures are offered free to our
churches:

Conditions Surrounding the Child Life of America.
Forces that Destroy Child Life.
Agencies that Uplift Childhood.
Immigration.

The Church and the Steel Workers.
. The Church and the Fight for Health.
The Copper Country and Strike Conditions.
The Country and the Church.
The Story of the Congregationalists.
Massachusetts and Her New Citizens.
Community Service.

The Church and the Small Community — Its Problems
and Its Opportunities.

Research Bureau

The Department furnishes expert service in the matter of
research along the principal lines of social service. Matter
will be prepared, bibliographies suggested, lines of study

230 COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE [1917

outlined suitable for use by those who are preparing sermons,
lectures and addresses, or conducting Bible classes, when
desired.

Speakers' Bureau

There has been some difficulty in the matter of securing
speakers from the fact that we have not been notified far
enough in advance in most cases by those who need speakers,
but plans are now being worked out by which we hope to
meet the growing demand of the churches.

Social Service

Social Service has to do with the relations existing between
men, communities and the world. The social servant thinks
of all life as a whole. The individual is not neglected, but so
fits himself into the social structure that he and all those
associated with him come to the place of fullest and most
complete development. To serve society means to interest
oneself in nations, states, cities, towns, villages and the rural
districts. The environment that shapes human life is made
up of houses, streets, business offices, stores, mines, factories,
schools, churches, places of amusement and recreation. To
reach the individual we must reach him through these. To
help him we must improve the conditions under which he
lives, moves and has his being. Spiritual development rarely
comes through a bad economic environment.

In proportion to the success of the church in meeting the
social needs of its day, just in this proportion will it be ful-
filling the commands of Jesus and the expectations of hu-
manity. The church can not meet these demands unless the
individual members of the church give themselves unselfishly
and with a whole heart to the task.

I. Community Survey.

Individuals may have a good general knowledge of the
community, but no person or group knows the facts relating
to the community and its life with specific, detailed and
statable accuracy without a carefully made study, followed
by writing down and putting in graphic form these facts. A
great many of our conclusions regarding the community are

1917] COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE 231

false because they arc based on partial, second-hand or hear-
say information. In order to get a comprehensive under-
standing of the community it is necessary to secure definite
dependable knowledge. The organized community survey,
undertaken and carried out by social experts, will secure this
information and make it available by putting it into stand-
ardized form. It may not, however, be possible to go into
the matter as extensively as would be necessary to have such
a survey made. This is an expensive undertaking. The
Russell Sage Foundation has a department especially devoted
to this kind of work and full information may be secured by
addressing a letter to the Survey Department, Russell Sage
Foundation, 130 E. 22nd St., New York City.

It is possible for a group in a local church, or a committee
representing several churohes in the community, to make a
very comprehensive community study, write a report, chart
the facts and formulate a series of recommendations that can
be made the basis of a workable program.

II. Program Based on Communily Needs.

There is a great deal of wasted and misdirected effort in
the church work because the things attempted are really not
the things that need most to be done. When a group have a
thorough understanding of the community they will come to
appreciate its needs and can intelligently plan a program
that will be workable and helpful. An illustration of the
way in w^hich this plan works is found in the experience of
one group of men who had raised the money and were planning
to build a parish house in connection with the local church.
After making a study of the community they found that there
were three gjannasiums within five blocks of the church and
not one of them being used to its full capacity. They also
found that the playground in the neighborhood was badly
managed and the director lacked helpers. They learned that
there was a large group of foreign-born people living almost
under the shadow of the church, and that these people had
no real and helpful contact with. the rest of the community.
These facts were taken into consideration and as a result the
church, instead of building a parish house as had been in-
tended, called together the social agencies of the community

232 COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE [1917

and made arrangements whereby the use of the neighborhood's
physical equipment for service was made available to a much
larger number of the people. The church then devoted its
chief energy to the task of bringing the group of foreigners
into helpful, saving associatiim with the rest of the com-
munity.

III. Specific Tasks in the Community.

It' is folly to attempt to reform the community, or better
conditions in general. The task must be stated specifically.
It may be a problem of Sunday labor; bad housing; violation
of law; inadequate or harmful recreational opportunities —
whatever the needs are the church group should settle upon
one or two definite needs and then devise ways and means
for bettering the bad conditions.

The natural place for beginning the work is in an endeavor
to help obvious need. Relief work is necessary just as long
as we allow bad social conditions to exist in the community.
Cooperation must be sought in doing the work. The members
of the church should be alert to every call. Appeals for the
sick come directly to the church, and the work among the
delinquent and the prisoners offers a wide field of opportunity.
The entire community can be reached if the group will learn
to think in terms of the whole community. Some of the fields
of endeavor that may be chosen are as follows : The problem
of child welfare; probation and delinquency; settlement work;
recreation ; labor and living conditions, and especial campaigns
in behalf of pubHc health. It is well not to attempt to cover
too much ground, but to do what is undertaken thoroughly
and well and keep persistently at the task.

The program must not be limited to the problems of the
local field. There are certain definite needs that are common
to every locality. The Kingdom of God can come only as we
learn to think of our community as a part of the Kingdom and
labor for its establishment everywhere. There are three such
problems that should be included in the program of each local
group. The following statements are based on a report
adopted by the Federal Council of the Churches at its quad-
rennial meeting held in St. Louis in December, 1916;

1917] COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE 233

" For years the churches of the Federal Council
have been proclaiming certain standards in the in-
dustrial world. Other agencies have been working to
the same end. As a result of this joint action and
education some improvement in conditions can be
recorded. The amount of seven-day work has been
lessened. Accidents are prevented and occupational
disease is being reduced. The principles of social in-
surance have been appHed generally to industrial
accidents. The imperative demand for a living wage
is being more fully recognized. Profit sharing is in-
creasing in favor, and some fundamental measures to
eliminate unemployment are being taken."

The task of securing Christian standards in industry must
be pushed to completion by the churches and other allied
forces.

These particular needs demand our earnest attention in
order that large groups of toilers in both agricultural and in-
dustrial occupations may be freed from the physical and moral
consequences of inadequate income and the exhaustion of
fatigue :

(a) Overwork. Investigations clearly demonstrate that over-
work impairs health, intelligence, morality and religion,
therefore the churches should support the efforts of in-
dustrial workers to secure a shorter work day and its
consequent release from fatigue and its benefit of leisure.

(6) A living wage. The Federal Council of the Churches
has declared itself in favor of a hving wage as a minimum
in every industry. The facts are that at present an alarm-
ingly large proportion of wage-earners are not securing
such a wage. We must reckon this lack in social terms.
Low wages mean bad housing, under-nourishment, limited
intellectual opportunity, and the break-down of the family
circle through forcing its members into industry. Sick-
ness, disease, crime and death fatten in the areas of low
income. Every church is faced with the grim facts of
broken lives caused by inadequate wages. We must declare
the principle stated in the scriptures that the harvestman

234 COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE [1917

who labors in the field must be the first to get a share of
the crop. Christianity will fail so long as industry allows
the strong to live off the lives of the weak.

(c) A more equitable distribution of wealth. Out of many
industries that pay inadequate wages great fortunes are
being built. Against this injustice the conscience of the
Christian must protest, for it means poverty, bitter struggle,
loss of opportunity and social unrest and disorder. We
must find a way to remove this injustice. The measures
that are now being used to this end are trade agreements
between employers and organized workers — the minimum
wage, profit sharing, co-operative ownership, and manage-
ment. Help can be given by urging the gospel ideal of the
stewardship of wealth. As employers, investors, or wage-
earners we must do all in our power as individuals and as
groups to initiate and promote measures and movements
that make for the realization of the standard of a living
wage as the minimum in every industry, the highest wage
that each industry can afford and the most equitable
division of the product of industry that can be devised.

{d) Industrial democracy. The struggle of the toilers is not
only a struggle for more of the comforts of life, it is also a
struggle for the expression of their personalities in their
work, even as they have come to express them in govern-
ment. It is a demand for industrial democracy. It is
impossible without conflict that men should have the right
of the ballot in government, but should possess no similar
right as workers. With this demand we as Christians are
all concerned, for democracy is the expression of Chris-
tianity. Recent events demonstrate the dangers of an
undemocratic organization of industry. In several states
industrial strife developed into the horrors of civil war.
The failure to recognize democratic relationships in in-
dustry has resulted in the breakdown of civil government
and the setting up of military power. It has rent churches
asunder with ill will and made it as impossible to maintain
the Christian ideal within the church as to maintain it in
the state. The usual method of realizing democracy in
industry is through collective bargaining. This is good and
effective as far as it goes, but it is not final, for it may be

1917] COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE 235

selfish and as eager in seeking advantage as any other form
of bargaining. Christianity demands the higher principle.
It demands that no group, or groups, shall seek merely their
own rights or principles, but all must consider the duty to
the common welfare. Christianity can tolerate neither the
despotism of capital nor the tyranny of labor. It demands
that the means may be provided so that there shall be the
fullest possible cooperation, control and ownership of
industry and the natural resources upon which industry
depends.

IV. The Program of Education.

Teaching is a primary function of the church. Not only is
the church under obligations to educate its own members —
it must educate the community and the world to think of all
hfe and life-relations in terms of Christ's ideals. A vision of
what needs to be done without an intelhgent understanding
of how it is to be done gets nowhere. The ways and means
for bettering social conditions cannot be learned without
careful study. Each church should develop a group of experts
in social activity, and this group should have the most compre-
hensive knowledge of social needs and the best way of meeting
them of any other individual or organization in the com-
munity,

V. The Program of Propaganda.

In proportion to the amount of care and effort that is put
into the program of education, just in that proportion there
will be less need for emphasis upon definite campaigns against
existing evils. The matter of propaganda can usually be
cared for in the program of education. Most evils exist either
because people who are responsible for them do not know of
their existence, or else have not been educated to think of them
as evils. To educate will often cure the wrongs. However,
there are times when it is necessary and advisable to throw
the influence of Christian men and women behind some
campaign in behalf of righteousness. The church group should
bB prepared to meet such demands.

■ 236 COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE [1917

VI . Use of Printed Matter.

Our fathers valued tracts and many an effectual preachment
was made by means of them. The New Testament was first
written in the form of tracts. The documents were used
primarily for propaganda purposes. Many of the social
agencies and movements outside of the church are making
good use of the small pamphlet issued in large quantities and
distributed free of charge. If the church will prepare a series
of such pamphlets and literally " sow down " the community
with them, it will prove a valuable means for the carrying out
of the program. For instance, as a beginning there might be
published " The Social Creed of the Churches," a short
pointed discussion of the eight-hour day; democracy in
industry; better wages; peace and arbitration. These are
but suggestions. An alert group who will give the question a
little study will find a number of vital subjects that may be
presented and the Christian attitude preached by means of
the tract.

VII. Equipment for Service.

Generally speaking, the better the physical equipment of
the church the better work it will do. But this is not always
true.

The church and parish house should be built to meet the
needs of the community. There is no value in a church weary-
ing its members and the community by the multiplicity of its
doings, unless the things done are accomplishing real purposes
in changing and making better the life of the community. To
do a thing just for the sake of having something to do is
wasted motion.

It is not always possible to secure the kind of equipment we
would like to have. This lack need not discourage the church.
Some of the best work that a church can do is to help in
making more effective the operation of the existing equipment
for service in the community. The Young Men's and Young
Women's Christian Associations, the playground, possibly a
settlement house, or even the commercial recreation and
amusement features of the community may be used by the
church in its work. In many places out-of-door sports and

1917] COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE 237

social service activities requiring no special equipment have
been actively and successfully carried on by the church.

Let the church get the best equipment possible for its work,
but first of all let the church be certain that all the present
equipment of its community is being used to its fullest ca-
pacity, and that it knows just how it will use the new equip-
ment before it is provided. The most distressingly gloomy
institution any church can have is a gymnasium that is used
for a storage room.

VIII. Cooperation.

As has been indicated above, the church in order to do its
best work must cooperate with all the other churches and social
agencies of its community.

This program of social action has for its object the ultimate
re-making of the social order. Jesus recognized the evils and
knew that the exploitations and iniquities of the social life
of his day must give way to the new order wherein love and
service would become the commanding principles. This new
order must take the place of the old.

The conception of Jesus as expressed in his phrase, — the
Kingdom of God — is the collective idea of society. His
preaching and teaching involved the whole round of duties
and privileges of all men — all the life of all men. Jesus com-
missioned his followers to finish the task He had commenced.
To be a follower of the Master means to do the same kind of
service and to work with the same spirit with which he worked.
The early church saw its duty and did not shrink from following
.the Master.

The churches are accepting the issues today as never before.
No one can consistently call himself a Christian and not abide
by the principles of Christianity. Can society be remade
according to the plans of Jesus? Can service become the
foundation of national greatness? Can service take the place
of selfishness in individual lives? These are the questions that
the churches are attempting to answer in the affirmative.

The task which the aroused church faces today is clearly
defined. There has never been a time when the fines were so
clearly drawn between the two great principles which dominate
the world — the principle of force and the principle of love.

238 COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE [l917

Civilization is built upon the conception of force and aggres-
sion. " To get " is an all-dominating motive. It actuates
nations as well as individuals. The desire for commercial
supremacy and the land hunger of whole nations brought on
the present war with its frightful cost in blood and money.
This same power is the driving force in the business world.
Industrialism is founded upon profits, and anything more
than a money return from an investment is too often looked
upon as a mere by-product. This hard, selfish spirit is the evil
parent of the unrest and disorder we find in so many industrial
centers. Over against this spirit of gain and aggression we
have the spirit of Jesus.

The question is often asked, Is the new program of the
church and its new interest in social questions causing many
more of the laboring people to come into the church? This
question can not be definitely answered, and it is not important
that : we should be able to give an accurate answer. The
church is not interesting itself in industrial and social problems
for the purpose of building up its own constituency, but
because it can not be a Christian institution without standing
for social justice in the midst of our present-day civilization.

There is a distrust of the church in the minds of large
masses of the people; a deep-seated feeling that the church is
a class institution; that its interest in people is measured more
by the standards of modern business than by the standards of
Jesus. It will take years of self-sacrificing effort, following a
fearless social program, to do away with this prejudice. It
has been well said " Man is incurably religious," and people
will turn to the church when they find within it an expression
of true religion.

Charles R. Brown Arthur E. Holt

Fred B. Hill Albert W. Palmer

Hastings H. Hart J. E. Annis

J. G. Jennings Henry A. Atkinson, Secretary.

REPORT OF COMMISSION ON TEMPERANCE

The seven league boots of temperance are still marching on.
Never during a like period of time has so much been accom-
plished for temperance in the United States as during the last
two years.

The roll of dry states where prohibition went into effect
or goes into effect is as follows —

Maine 1851 Washington 1916

Kansas 1880 Arkansas 1916

North Dakota 1889 Iowa 1916

Oklahoma 1907 Idaho 1916

Georgia 1908 South CaroUna 1916

North Carolina 1909 Nebraska 1917

Mississippi 1909 South Dakota 1917

Tennessee 1909 Utah 1917

West Virginia 1914 Dist. of Columbia. Nov. 1,1917

Alabama 1915 Alaska Jan. 1, 1918

Arizona 1915 Indiana April 2, 1918

Virginia 1916 Michigan AprU 30, 1918

Colorado 1916 Montana Dec. 31, 1918

Oregon 1916 New Hampshire . . May 1, 1918

The action of the Supreme Court in upholding the Webb-
Kenyon law prohibits the shipment of intoxicating liquors
into any state when intended to be used in violation of state
laws. The " bone dry " Federal law prohibiting interstate
commerce in liquors in disregard of state prohibitory laws and
the law forbidding the sending of advertisements of hquors
through the mails into states where the sale of hquors is for-
bidden, together with the Webb-Kenyon law, give the indi-
vidual states at last an opportunity effectively to enforce their
legislation. In several states subtle attempts to pass legis-
lation that would weaken prohibition laws have been defeated
and the laws have been strengthened. As a war measure the
manufacture and importation of distilled spirits have been
prohibited, and powder has been conferred upon the President
to stop the use of food materials in the making of beer and
wine during the war. Perhaps above every other victory

239

240 COMMISSION ON TEMPERANCE [1917

stands the recent vote of the Senate to submit a prohibition
amendment to the states.

These specific achievements are the expressions of a senti-
ment which has developed with great rapidity during the last
two years. The experience of the people in every state or
district makes many converts in those districts and in the
country at large. Business corporations have been convinced
that license is economic waste. The resolutions adopted by
The American Medical Association indicate not only the
changing attitude of the medical profession toward the
beverage and medical use of alcohol, but is also symptomatic
of the changing mind of the people of the world —

" Whereas, We believe that the use of alcohol
as a beverage is detrimental to the human economy,
and

Whereas, Its use in therapeutics as a tonic or
stimulant or as a food has no scientific basis.

Therefore, be it resolved, That the American
Medical Association opposes the use of alcohol as
a beverage, and be it further

Resolved, That the use of alcohol as a therapeutic
agent shall be discouraged."

Religion, Morality, Medicine, Education, Government, and
Business are lined up against alcohol. Soon it will be driven
from the land and the people of this Republic will have an
opportunity to show what a government of the people, for
the people and by the people means. Another Hun will
cease his brutal devastation.

The Commission on Temperance of the Congregational
Churches of the United States has taken an active part in
the battles and victories of the last two years. Its Chairman
was Chairman of a Committee of Six, representing the great
temperance forces of the nation that initiated and carried
through the District of Columbia Prohibition Bill. Almost
every church paper printed the appeals sent out by this
Committee, urging the citizens everywhere to urge their
senators and representatives to give the District a dry law.
Hundreds of letters went to individuals in the different states

1917] COMMISSION ON TEMPERANCE 241

and Congressional Districts directing them in the stirring up
and expression of the sentiment in favor of a dry Capitol. By-
virtue of his office the Chairman has been a member of the
Temperance Committee of the Federal Council and by nomi-
nation of the Temperance Commission, a member of the
Committee of One Hundred representing all churches and
temperance organizations, which has in charge the campaign
for national prohibition. Your Commission has tried in all
these great opportunities to express effectively the sentiment
of the Pilgrims for the moral improvement of the nation and
to coordinate its work harmoniously and in due subordination
with the efforts of those great agencies that are, by necessity
of their purpose and history, directing the great fight. If
your Commission had done no more than to play the part it
did in making the District of Columbia dry, it had added
another notable and epoch-making contribution to the long
hst that has marked the life of the Pilgrims in America.

The prospective food shortage has brought to the attention
of the country an aspect of the temperance question not dis-
cussed in previous Council reports. Professor H. W. Farnum
of the chair of Economics in Yale University has ascertained
by careful investigation that not less than 1,368,000 acres
of land are annually used in the production of tobacco. At
an average of 80 bushels to the acre, this land would produce
109 milhon bushels of potatoes, which is more than a third
of the crop of 1916. This would provide each family of four
persons with four bushels of potatoes a year. It is not possible
to be deeply concerned with the economic waste involved in
the production and distribution of liquor without similar
concern for the smaller but enormous aggregate of waste in
the production and distribution of tobacco.

It is the belief of your Commission that at an early day the
Church of Christ must take steps to inform herself more fully
as to the moral bearings of the use of tobacco in its economic
and physical effects.

Your Commission, feeling profoundly the need as a war
measure, of conserving all the resources of the United States
that the people may be properly fed and nourished and that
the success of this righteous war may be insured, recommends
that we appeal to the President most respectfully and urgently.

242 COMMISSION ON TEMPERANCE [1917

into whose hand the authority has been given, to forbid during
the period of the war, the use of all food values in the manu-
facture of all alcoholic liquors including beer and wine to
be used as a beverage and to forbid the sale and importation
of such hquors.

Your Commission is impressed that this struggle is only
a part of that campaign for human welfare waged during all
ages throughout the world. All who love their fellowmen
are members of a great company who in the spirit of the
Master give themselves for their fellow men. Others have
labored and we have entered into their labors, and still others
shall through our faith, pains, and prayers carry on the work
of the Kingdom.

C. A. Vincent
William Shaw
H. H. Proctor
A. B. Farwell
Clifford H. Smith
George A. Brock
James Schermerhorn

REPORT OF COMMISSION ON COMITY
FEDERATION AND UNITY

The Commission of the National Council on Comity,
Federation and Unity begs leave to report as follows:

Three subjects have engaged the attention of the Commis-
sion for the past two years :

(1) Conference with the Commission on Comity of the
Disciples looking toward a closer affiliation of the two de-
nominations.

(2) A continuation of the discussion with the Protestant
Episcopal Committee on Unity of the so-called Lenox Pro-
posals.

(3) A cooperation with the Commissions from many of
the churches looking toward the promotion of the world con-
ference of Faith and Order.

1. An important joint meeting of the Commission of the
Congregationalists and Disciples was held in New York on
January 10, 1917. The following resolutions were adopted:

First. — That a joint paper setting forth the rela-
tions between the Congregationalists and Disciples
be prepared, and that when approved by the members
of the two commissions it be circulated in their -re-
spective communions.

Second. — That we encourage a larger cooperation
on the part of the Congregationalists and Disciples
in those communities where they have representa-
tives, by mutual conference between the ministry and
laity and such cooperation of local congregations as
will make evident to all a desire and intention of
these bodies of Christians to work in harmony with
each other, and that Dr. H. C. Herring and Dr. F. W.
Burnham act as a committee to take up this matter
with the Home Missionary Boards of the two com-
munions and in any other ways that may seem wise
to them.

Third. — That in the line of these resolutions the
two Commissions concerned shall send representa-
tives to the national gatherings of each communion

243

244 COMMISSION ON COMITY, FEDERATION, UNITY [1917

bearing messages of greeting and assurance of fellow-
ship.

Fourth. — That a joint meeting of a larger delega-
tion from each communion be held in New York City,
January, 1918, arrangements to be made by the
Chairman of the two Commissions on Unity.

In the judgment of the Commission the paper alluded to
in the first resolution above is of such importance that it
should have place in this report and it therefore appears as a
second section of the same.

2. The so-called Lenox Proposals looking toward the in-
auguration of joint worship between Congregational and
Episcopal churches have been under consideration for the
past two years. Dr. Newman Smyth and Dr. Williston Walker,
of New Haven, have had this matter in charge. In the ab-
sence of Dr. Smyth, the following statement of the present
status of these discussions has been prepared by Dr. Walker:

In regard to the cooperation in preaching and other Chris-
tian activities proposed by the rector of the Protestant
Episcopal Church in Lenox, Mass., and the pastor of the
Congregational Church in that town, further conference was
held. The matter has been comphcated by the fact that
the rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church, who was a
party to the original proposition, has been transferred to
another field of activity and is no longer at Lenox. The
matter appeared to your Commission and to their Episcopal
brethren, one of general importance, however, and not simply
of local application, and the discussion has been continued
along lines of similar cooperation. A meeting of representa-
tives of your Commission and of the Committee on Unity
of the Protestant Episcopal Church, headed by Bishop Ethel-
bert Talbot of the Diocese of Bethlehem, was held in New
York City on January 12, 1917, which resulted in the appoint-
ment of a subcommittee representative of both parties to the
discussion, to continue negotiations. That sub-committee
has been in correspondence, but is not as yet ready to recom-
mend any formulated plan of action, and will hardly be in a
position to do so before the meeting of the Council. The
whole question has been discussed in the most fraternal and
Christian spirit on both sides, and though the negotiations

1917] COMMISSION ON COMITY, FEDERATION, UNITY 245

have not gone as far as the Commission could wish, they feel
that in this matter they are able to report progress and re-
quest the permission of the Council to continue their negotia-
tions.

3. The work in 1910 of inviting all Christian Communions
throughout the world to unite in arranging for and conducting
a World Conference on Faith and Order was interrupted lii
1914, when more than fifty cooperating Commissions had
been appointed, by the outbreak of the war which still
prevents the sending of a deputation to extend the invitatioil
to the Protestant Churches of the Continent of Europe and
to the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.
Under these circumstances, members in North America of
the Cooperating Committee (formerly the Advisory Com^
mittee), composed of representatives of all the Commissions
thus far appointed, held a meeting at Garden City, New York,
in January, 1916, and adopted plans for further procedure,
which included the formation of a North American Prepara-
tion Committee, whose function should be to advance the
movement on this continent, gather material from the several
Commissions here for presentation at the ultimate World
Conference, and develop and practice the methods essential
to its success.

At the invitation of a nominating committee, whose chair-
man was Rev. Newman Smyth, D.D., fifty distinguished
members of the twenty-four Communions in the United States
and Canada which are cooperating in the movement met at
Garden City, New York, January 23-24, 1917, and organized
the North American Preparation Committee by the election
of officers and the appointment of sub-committees. The
list of its members now comprises over one hundred names and
includes not only Anglicans, Baptists, Congregationalists,
Disciples, Friends, Lutherans, Methodists, Moravians, Presby-
terians and Reformed, but also eminent members of the Roman
Catholic and the Orthodox Russian, Serbian and Armenian
Churches.

At that meeting the following Executive Committee was
appointed, which held its first session in New York, February
23, 1917: — Rt. Rev. Charles P. Anderson, D.D., Chairman
of the North American Preparation Committee; Rev. Bishop

246 COMMISSION ON COMITY, FEDERATION, UNITY [1917

Luther B. Wilson, D.D., Chairman of the Executive Com-
mittee; Robert H. Gardiner, Secretary; Lucien C. Warner,
Treasurer; Rev. Peter Ainslie, D.D., Rev. Clarence A.
Barbour, D.D., William M. Birks, Hon. Justi<3e Maclaren,
John R. Mott, LL.D., Rev. J. B. Remensnyder, D.D., Rev.
William H. Roberts, D.D., Rev. Newman Smyth, D.D., and
Rev. John J. Wynne, S. J.

This Executive Committee, in accordance with the terms of
its appointment which follow the language adopted at Gar-
den City in January, 1916, has taken up the task of securing
from each of the Commissions in North America a statement
of the propositions of Faith and Order which it considers to be
(a) held in common by its own Communion and the rest of
Christendom, and (6) held by its own Communion as its
special trust and the ground upon which it stands apart from
other Communions. A number of the Commissions in North
America have now begun the formulation of these statements.
Prof. Wilhston Walker, Ph.D., Prof. J. W. Platner, D.D.,
Rev. William E. Barton, D.D. and Pres. Wm. Douglass
Mackenzie, D.D., have been appointed to propose such a
statement for the Congregational Churches.

The Executive Committee has further appointed a Com-
mittee on Publications, consisting of Rev. Clarence A. Barbour,
D.D., Rev. H. E. W. Fosbroke, D.D., Rev. Bishop William F,
McDowell, D.D., Rev. Newman Smyth, D.D., Chairman,
Rev. J. Ross Stevenson, D.D. and Rev. John J. Wynne,
S.J., and a Committee on Round Table Conferences, con-
sisting of Rev. Peter Ainslie, D.D., WiUiam 'M. Birks,
Pres. W. H. P. Faunce, D.D., LL.D., Robert H. Gardiner,
Rev. Bishop Eugene R. Hendrix, D.D., and Very Rev.
Edward A. Pace, Ph.D., S.T.D.

Thus far, however, the plans laid down at Garden City in
January, 1916, and now entrusted to these various committees
are not yet in actual process of accomplishment. The Com-
mission of the Episcopal Church has voted that S2,500 be
appropriated as a subscription towards a total sum of $10,000
as a general fund for the expenses of the North American
Preparation Committee, payable when $10,000 shall have
been raised or pledged; and the Executive Committee of the
North American Preparation Conamittee has voted that

1917] COMMISSION ON COMITY, FEDERATION, UNITY 247

$10,000 is the amount to be secured to enable the Committee
to establish its work on an efficient basis. Efforts are being
made to raise this fund in order that the movement may be
actively prosecuted along these lines in North Am^erica, with
the expectation of real progress toward the ultimate World
Conference.

4. The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America
has gone forward during the past two years, doing a work of
unprecedented volume and. significance. The tragic condi-
tions in the Old World have created an obvious call for its
activity in enlisting aid both for the naked and starving vic-
tims of the war and for the Protestant Churches in France and
elsewhere. This call has been met with energy and with
success. Meanwhile the influence of the Council has been
steadily broadening along all the lines of its leadership. Dur-
ing the biennium its staff has been greatly strengthened by
the addition of Rev. Charles Stelzle in special departments of
effort bearing on temperance and the pubhc health, and Rev.
Worth M. Tippy as Secretary of its Social Service Commission.

It should be a matter of great satisfaction to Congregational-
ists that from the beginning of the Council's work they have
had so large a share in promoting its welfare.

Raymond Calkins
Louis F. Anderson
Ferdinand Q. Blanchard
Newman Smyth
Nehemiah Boynton
E. Lyman Hood
Williston Walker

248 COMMISSION ON CCMIiy, FIDEPATICN, UNITY [1917

REPORT OF COMMISSION ON COMITY,
FEDERATION AND UNITY

Section 2
Relations between Congregationalists and Disciples

To the Commissions of Congregationalists and Disciples
who have been studying the characteristic features of the two
bodies it appears highly important that there should be a
clearer general recognition of their points of agreement and
a sustained endeavor to cultivate close relations of sympathy
and cooperation. It is not in the thought of these Commis-
sions that such endeavor should take the form of proposals
of union, either now or at any assignable future date. The
first neceasity in the whole matter of the reunion of Christen-
dom is to secure mutual confidence and whole-hearted co-
operation. Whatever of closer relationship lies beyond may
well be left to the wisdom of the coming time.

As a contribution to such quickened sense of kinship the
Commissions present this study. They would remind those
who may read it that, in order to get the right perspective as
to some of the views presented, it is essential to remember
that one of the Communions considered has three hundred
years of existence behind it, the other a little less than a
hundred. Differences of form and outlook resulting from the
difference in age should not be permitted to obscure root
agreements which are independent of time.

In the matter of historical purpose and origin there is a
striking parallel. Both were at the outset definitely and
avowedly reform movements, having the same purpose in
view and following the same general method. What the
Separatist and Independent movements undertook to do in
England, and continued to do in New England, the Disciple
movement undertook to do in the region where it began,
namely, to deliver the Church from the trammels of ecclesi-
asticism, tradition and superstition, and to restore the purity
and simplicity of the New Testament order. In this we see at
work in both bodies the same spirit operating through the
same general methods, with this difference — the Congrega-

1917] COMMISSION ON COMITY, FEDERATION, UNITY 249

tional reform was aimed at the political ecclesiasticism of the
age and its attendant evils, doctrinal and social, while the
Disciple reform was aimed at the prevailing sectarianism of
a later age and its attendant evils. Historically, then, these
two bodies sprang from the conviction that in the spirit and
purpose of New Testament teaching there is a basis for the
faith, pohty and life of the church, and both were seeking
such complete reform as would bring about the adoption of
that ideal, aiming in fact to carry the Protestant Reforma-
tion to its logical conclusion. The method pursued in both
movements was that of separation for the purpose of bearing
witness to the truth of the ideas espoused. Thus in the days
of Queen Elizabeth the earliest Congregationalists withdrew
from attendance upon the Church of England for reasons of
faith and conscience, joined themselves together " as the
Lord's free people " into " a church estate in the fellowship of
the Gospel." In like manner Thomas Campbell and his
associates, a century and a half later, separating from the
Seceder Presbyterian Church, organized themselves into the
" Christian Association of Washington " for the purpose
of promoting " simple, evangelical Christianity, free from all
mixture of human opinions and invention." From these
beginnings the two movements known as the Congregation-
alists and the Disciples have come.

In matters of doctrine and pohty the agreements between
these two peoples are numerous and significant.

1. They are in entire agreement with each other and with

the great company of evangelical Christians in the ac-
ceptance of the historic body of the Christian faith
which from age to age the various branches of the church
have sought to express through their hymns and prayers
and creeds.

2, Both hold that the New Testament order is democratic

and congregational. Therefore both insist on the
independence and autonomy of the local congregation,
and both insist on the individual and universal priest-
hood of believers. Christ is the Head of the whole
Church and of each church. Each church is free there-
fore to carry on its own work in its own way. Likewise

250 COMMISSION ON COMITY, FEDERATION, UNITY [1917

each person individually has free access to the throne of
Grace and is individually accountable to Christ. This
is the foundation principle of the religion and life of both
Congregationalists and Disciples.

3. Both hold that fundamentally the organ of religious

knowledge, and of all knowledge, is reason. Therefore
both give the primacy to preaching and teaching.
Evangelism in both has followed the method of the direct
address of the word of truth to the reason and conscience
of men and women. Both welcome truth from whatever
source and both have but one desire, namely, to know the
fulness of the truth concerning the will of God. It is
therefore fundamental with both that religion must be
ethical and that religious faith and feeling shall issue in
character after the pattern of the character of Christ.

4. Both accept the Holy Scriptures as a revelation of God.

Both have cherished the Bible as their most precious
possession. Both are willing to stand for the word
of Chillingworth, fairly interpreted, that " The Bible
and the Bible alone is the religion of Protestants."
Both agree in making a distinction between the tempo-
rary and permanent elements in the Scriptures. There-
fore Bible study and teaching have taken among both
the historical and expository methods.

5. Both peoples have been champions of popular education.

In the very beginning the Congregationalists planted the
schoolhouse by the side of the " meeting house." In
1636 they founded Harvard College. Then came Yale,
Dartmouth, Oberlin and a host of others, till an extended
chain of colleges stretches across the United States.
The Disciples also had educational ambitions from the
beginning. The final separation and independence of
the Disciple movement dates from the year 1830.
In 1840 Alexander Campbell established its first college.
There are now thirty-five schools and colleges of the
Disciples in the United States.

6. Both are thoroughly committed to the missionary program

of the Kingdom. Both have schools, churches and
missionaries in. all parts of the earth. Both conceive
the last command of our Lord to be the supreme charter

1917] COMMISSION ON COMITY, FEDERATION, UNITY 251

and commission of the Church. Dr. Jefferson says,
" The Church is a body of missionaries." Alexander
Campbell said, " The church of right is and ought to be a
great missionary society."
7. Both desire the unity of the Church of Christ. Since it
is contrary to the genius and principles of each to state
its views in official creeds or declarations, it is not
possible to say authoritatively how closely they agree
as to the nature of the unity to be sought and expected
or the methods used for its promotion. That there is
some difference of view in the average thought of the
members of the one communion and the other is plain.
But the Commissions issuing this statement are persuaded
that it is of a sort which will prove no obstacle to a hearty
and united endeavor for the fulfillment of Christ's
prayer " That they all may be one."

Turning to matters of church practice there are certain
differences to be taken into consideration.

Most conspicuous are those relating to baptism and the
Lord's Supper. Here the divergencies are obvious. Never-
theless they are really external and have to do with manner
and season more than with meaning and value. Both
bodies are non-sacramentarian. Both regard baptism and
the Lord's Supper as symbols and attach great value to them,
but do not invest them with any sacramentarian mystery or
efficacy. The difference has to do with form. Among the
Disciples baptism is always administered by immersion.
Among Congregationalists sprinkling is the usual form,
although other forms are frequently used. Furthermore,
the Disciples universally reject the doctrine and practice of
infant baptism and regard penitent believers only, as scrip-
tural subjects for baptism. Among Congregationalists chil-
dren as well as adults may receive baptism.

Concerning the Lord's Supper, the difference is simply one
of season. The Disciples regard the institution as a weekly
one and observe the Supper every Lord's Day. The Con-
gregationalists observe the Supper as often as the local con-
gregation may elect. The invitation to the Lord's table is
the same in both bodies, each admitting Christians without

252 COMMISSION ON COMITY, FEDERATION, UNITY [1917

reference to their membership in the communion administering
the Supper.

In the hght of this brief analysis it is evident that the general
custom under which Congregationalists and Disciples join
in worship and cooperate in work is based not merely upon
mutual good-will but also upon the solid foundation of es-
sential agreement in primary matters of doctrine and polity.
The Commissions believe that to a growing company in each
communion nothing would bring greater joy than to see the
relations between the two bodies growing ever closer in the
bonds of such a fellowship as will be the pledge and beginning
of the ultimate oneness of all who love the Lord Jesus Christ.

Raymond Calkins
Louis F. Anderson
, Ferdinand Q. Blanchard

Newman Smyth
Nehemiah Boynton
E. Lyman Hood
Williston Walker

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON
PUBLIC WORSHIP

The Commission on Public Worship, appointed by the
National Council in New Haven in 1915, was authorized to
continue and complete the Orders of Worship which had
been submitted to the Council, with authority to publish
them for the use of ministers and churches wishing to use
them.

The Commission is glad to report that good progress has
been made in its work, although somewhat delayed because
of the difficulty of securing conferences of members whose
homes are so remote from each other. The work is now nearly
ready for the press.

A thorough and careful revision has been given to the
Orders of Worship presented to previous Councils. Four
new services have been added, which seem pecuharly appro-
priate to the times in which we live, and for anniversaries
which the successors of the Pilgrims may fittingly observe.
They are —

An Order for a Home Missionary Service.
An Order for a Service of Patriotism.
An Order for a Thanksgiving Day Service.
An Order for a Forefathers' Day Service.

We have also enriched the devotional material by many
additional prayers for occasional use. They have been
selected from many sources, and cover a wide variety of topics.
The Church Universal furnishes an abundance of uplifting
and inspiring collects and petitions, the felicitous expression
of deep religious feeling, which cannot fail to be helpful to
the leader of worship. These prayers have been drawn from
the " Sacramentaries " of the early church; from the " Book
of Common Prayer " which has preserved many beautiful
expressions of devotion from the Christian centuries; from
the " Book of Common Worship " of the Presbyterian Church;
from the " Euchologion," or " Book of Common Order " of

253

254 COMMISSION ON PUBLIC WORSHIP [1917

the Church in Scotland; from the Lutheran " Church Book " ;
from the service books of John Hunter, Edward Hungerford
and others; as well as from individual sources both ancient
and modern. Such a " treasury of prayers " is not only of
very great value for the private devotional life, but, by the
occasional use of its noble and touching petitions, may lend
a new charm to the service of the sanctuary.

We need have no fear that such aids to devotion will im-
pair the freedom of the soul in its approach to God. The
spontaneous outpouring of the heart in prayer, without the
intervention of any fixed ecclesiastical form, is one of the
cherished features of our Congregational worship. When
our fathers broke loose from bondage to the letter, and came
into the liberty of the spirit, they made their devotions the
natural outflow of the deepest emotions of the soul. They
voiced the longings of their hearts -without dependence on the
printed page. We shall always cherish this freedom of wor-
ship. We will not tie ourselves up to any forms. Extem-
poraneous prayer will lift our souls heavenward in the future
as in the past, in confession, supphcation, and praise.

But the leaders of the Reformed Churches four centuries
ago, while throwing off the fetters of sacerdotalism and cere-
monial, did not forget the importance of a dignified, noble and
beautiful order of worship. They realized that many of their
ministers desired guidance and help in the condu-ct of pubhc
devotion. They felt that their congregations would be drawn
together into closer fellowship if in their assemblies for wor-
ship they followed a common order. They prepared Service
Books for their churches; but while securing unity of pro-
cedure in this way they left their ministers free to express
in their own language the needs and desires of their people,
especially for the objects -of immediate and urgent interest.
This union of a large liberty with orderhness has been of great
value to the non-liturgical churches, and their prepared forms
of service have not been to them a yoke of bondage, but helps
to a larger and richer devotional experience, to which they
have always been free to add the spontaneous utterance of
their immediate spiritual longings. They have been guides,
not taskmasters.

In presenting these Orders of Worship the Commission

1917] COMMISSION ON PUBLIC WORSHIP 255

seeks not to restrict the freedom of aii}^ church or minister.
Our Congregational churches would resent any attempt to
require them to conduct their services in any way other than
they themselves choose, and our ministers will continue to
make use of extemporaneous prayer except as they may
prefer at times to avail themselves of some of the beautiful
and heart-touching prayers which others have prepared. But
it is believed that they will find the proposed forms suggestive
and helpful. Some may wish to use them just as they are.
Others may be stimulated and helped by them to prepare for
themselves even better orders of service for their particular
congregations as circumstances may require. And all may
derive comfort, inspiration and spiritual quickening from a
careful and frequent study of the " prayers of the ages " which
have winged to the throne of God the petitions of multitudes
now sainted. Perhaps no better preparation for the delicate
and holy task of leading the devotions of a congregation can
be found than the frequent perusal of the liturgical portions
of the Psalter and other Scriptural passages, and the lofty
and finely phrased prayers which thrill us with the conscious-
ness of our fellowship with the worshiping hosts of the centuries
past. And if a pastor shall sometimes find some of these
prayers just suited to a particular occasion, he will feel free
to use them as voicing the present feeling of his people and of
his own heart.

We would like to emphasize again the value of such a
collection of services for our pastorless churches. The last
Year-Book shows that eleven hundred and eighteen of our
churches are without ministers. This is a misfortune and a
peril. The flock without a shepherd is apt to become apathetic
and discouraged. The work languishes. Frequently the
house of worship is closed for weeks and sometimes for months.
The church-going habit is weakened and religious indifference
creeps into the homes. Neglect of the house of God relaxes
the moral fibre of young and old. This is to a large degree the
secret of the decay and death of more than a thousand of our
churches in the last ten years.

The open sanctuary every Lord's day is the remedy for this
unfortunate condition. If the King's business is to succeed it
must be pushed. A church organized for work and worship

256 COMMISSION ON PUBLIC WORSHIP [1917

should maintain its services without interruption. The
leadership of a well trained pastor is, of course, very desirable.
But even without a minister the services of worship may be
continued without intermission. Such Orders of Service as
are presented make it possible for a church under lay leader-
ship to keep up its weekly service of praise and prayer, and
assemble its congregation to consider the great truths of the
life eternal. We believe in the priesthood of all Christian
believers. Any person, acceptable to the congregation, may
be chosen to conduct the service of praise and prayer. It
may be an officer of the church, or a teacher, a man or a
woman. Making use of one of these orders of service, with
hearty congregational singing led, perhaps, by the fresh
voices of a young people's choir, with the participation of all
in the Responsive Readings, the chants, and other parts
suitable for the congregation, with a brief address or appro-
priate reading in place of the sermon, and with the use of such
of these collects and prayers as may be selected for the oc-
casion, such a lay service may be dignified, inspiring and most
enjoyable. It will stimulate life and interest in the church
during the interregnum between pastorates. It may save
many a church from decline.

We believe that if our Home Missionary Superintendents
and State Secretaries would urge all our pastorless churches
to keep their places of worship open each Sunday, with a
service conducted in this way, availing themselves of the aids
which such a collection affords, it would go far to stem the
tide of desolation which sweeps so many of our churches
from us each year.

Charles H. Richards
Lucius H. Thayer
Edward I. Bosworth
John W. Buckham
Waldo S. Pratt
W. Douglas Mackenzie

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION

The present world situation brings home to us as never
before the seriousness of our responsibihty as churches of the
Pilgrim faith. Centuries of Protestant teaching have not
availed to restrain the spirit of despotism from aggression
upon the rights of free but defenceless peoples — and this too
in the very land where Protestantism had its birth. On the
other hand, the radicalism of democracy, as seen in its most
recent reactions against various forms of oppression in Russia,
in China and even in our own country, compels a very thought-
ful re-consideration of the whole program of Protestant
Christianity, and particularly of its educational program.

It is clear that democracy never can be safe, either from
the encroachments of a selfish autocracy or from its own
excesses, without the sanctions and motives of the Christian
religion. It is equally clear that the chief responsibility for
infusing democratic ideals of freedom with the Christian
spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice rests mainly upon the
Protestant Churches. And it is becoming every day more
clear that this responsibility can never be properly discharged
in the brief time now usually allotted to it. It is high time
that all the forces of the Protestant Churches be mobilized
for one comprehensive, thoroughgoing community and
nation-wide program of Christian education; a program in
which the peculiar prerogatives of the State in education
shall be safeguarded while the peculiar weaknesses and limi-
tations of state education are fully recognized and its de-
ficiencies supplied.

It ought now to be evident to the most careless observer
that a general education which omits religion is no guarantee
of freedom or of fidelity to responsibility. On the other hand,
it should stimulate every Protestant church to its best en-
deavor to know that educators in our public schools, im-
patient of finding in the churches a strong, co-operating
educational agency, are casting about for ways and means

257

258 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION [1917

whereby they themselves can supply the essential religious
element in education without violating the fundamental
principles of separation between the functions of Church and
State.

Conscious of these great national and world needs — needs
which can never be met by occasional campaigns of evange-
listic or missionary effort, but which require in addition the
constant, systematic application of the methods of Christian
nurture — the Commission on Religious and Moral Education
would urge upon the Congregational churches a fresh conse-
cration to their educational task. It is a task to which already
our churches have made notable contribution, both in men and
in money, but in which we must confess ourselves in danger
of losing the place of leadership unless we speedily address
ourselves to this work with renewed earnestness and zeal.

The Work of Previous Commissions

It is a pleasure in this connection to recognize the valuable
service performed by previous Commissions in recent years,
whose members, with admirable foresight, have outlined for
the churches the pohcies which should be pursued. Especially
have they emphasized the need for more adequate educa-
tional standards, the need for an educationally trained ministry
and for trained teachers, the need for more thorough and
systematic instruction in missions and for training in service,
and the need for a closer knitting together of all educational
plans into a unity. The last Commission in particular pre-
pared an exhaustive Study of the Present Status of Rehgious
Education in Congregational Sunday Schools, a Bulletin
entitled A Program of Religious Education in the Local Church
and a Leaflet concerning The Committee on Religious Educa-
tion in the Local Church — documents which ought to be in
the hands of every Congregational pastor and all others who
have to do with religious education in the local church.

The Work of the Present Commission

The present Commission, upon ite appointment in the fall
of 1915 in New Haven, organized itself into three Sub-Com-
missions, as follows:

1917] RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION 259

On the Local Church
Luther A. Weigle, Chairman
Henry K. Booth
Norton M. Little
Benjamin S. Winchester

On Student Life
Noble S. Elderkin, Chairman
Oscar C. Helming
Laura H. Wild

On the Home
Oscar C. Helming, Chairman
Henry K. Booth
Benjamin S. Winchester

Two meetings of the Commission have been held; one at
Chicago in February, 1916, and one at Boston in March, 1917.
In addition to these meetings, several conferences have been
held of members on the Sub-Commissions. Individual
members have also represented the Commission upon other
bodies; e.g.. The International Sunday School Lesson Com-
mittee, The Sunday School Council, The Federal Council
Commission on Christian Education, The Joint Committee
on Voluntary Study Courses of the Christian Associations,
The Conference on Bible Study in Colleges, The Committee
of the Religious Education Association on Standardization of
College Biblical Departments, The Committee of the Religious
Education Association on a Standard Program of Religious
Education, The Committee of the Federal Council on the
Observance of the Martin Luther Quadricentennial.

The Commission has also worked co-operatively with the
new Congregational Board of Religious Education, limiting
itself to the consideration and formulation of educational
policies while leaving all matters of a purely administrative
nature to the Board of Religious Education.

The Commission has further sought to bring jtself into
helpful relationship to the Committees on Religious Educa-
tion and the Committees on the Sunday School and Young
People's Work (as they are variously called) in the State

260 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION [1917

Conferences, submitting to their chairmen a series of Topics
for Discussion at State Conferences. (See Division VI of
this Report.)

The attention of the Commission has been mainly concen-
trated upon the following matters which were believed to be
of peculiarly pressing importance; the formulating of more
adequate standards for religious education, the study of the
problem of rehgious education in the home, the extension of
religious education throughout the local community, and the
improvement of Sunday-school lesson material.

i. Standardization

A . Standards for the Church School.

1. The Pilgrim Standard of Efficiency for Sunday Schools,
originally prepared by the Sunday School and Publishing
Society and adopted by the State Congregational Conferences
in several stages, has been completely revised by a joint
Committee of this Commission and the Sunday School and
Publishing Society. This was re-issued by the Society in
January, 1917, in its revised form under the title, The Pilgrim
Standard; a Standard of Efficiency for Congregational Church
Schools. Any Congregational church may now have at hand
a concise statement of the conditions which must be met if
it is to do work of standard grade. (See leaflet with above
title, Pilgrim Press, Boston and Chicago.)

2. The same joint Committee has also prepared a Standardi-
zation Blank, to aid the individual school in studying its own
problems. Upon filHng out this blank, the nearest field repre-
sentative of the Sunday School Society will recommend to the
school such methods of procedure as will enable it to attain
the Standard of Efficiency. (See Standardization Blank,
Pilgrim Press, Boston and Chicago.)

3. A third step in standardization is the training of super-
intendents and officers. A text-book on Organization is now
available, prepared by Prof. Walter S. Athearn, author of
The Church School, and in line with the principles enunciated
in The Pilgrim Standard. (See Part IV, 10 Lessons on the
Church School, The Pilgrim Training Course for Teachers,
Pilgrim Press, Boston and Chicago.)

1917] RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION 261

B. Standards for the Training of Teachers.

Perhaps the most important part of the work during the
two years, at least so far as the Sub-Commission on the
Local Church is concerned, has had to do with the formulation
of more definite standards for the training of teachers.
Through a co-operative arrangement between the Sunday
School Council of Evangelical Denominations and the Inter-
national Sunday School Association a joint committee was
created to prepare for all denominations new specifications
for courses of study for training classes. The chairman of
this Commission has served as a member of that committee.
As a result of the work of this joint committee, an agreement
has at last been reached regarding standards for the training
of teachers. Instead of the so-called " First Standard " and
" Advanced Standard," courses previously in vogue, there is
now one standard course of training covering three years of
study. Each year is made up of three units of ten lessons
each, the first two years being of a general nature, the third
year consisting of specialized study.

In addition to its participation upon this joint committee
through the Chairman, the Commission has carefully scruti-
nized the standards at every stage of the process of their
formulation with a view to securing their utmost adaptability
to the needs of our own churches. The text-book for the first
year is now ready and is entitled The Pilgrim Training Course
for Teachers; 10 Lessons on the Pupil, 10 Lessons on the
Principles of Teaching; 10 Lessons on How to Teach the Life
of Christ, and 10 Lessons on the Church School. Of these
four parts the first two were written by Prof. L. A. Weigle,
the Chairman of our Sub-Commission on the Local Church,
and the third by Prof. B. S. Winchester, Chairman of the
Commission. Part IV was written by Prof. Walter S. Athearn.
(For further details regarding the formation of training classes,
certification, additional courses of study, text-books, etc.,
write to the Department of Field Work of the Congregational
Sunday School and Publishing Society, 14 Beacon St., Boston.)

C. Standards for Bible Study in Colleges.

Through the connection of one of the members of the
Commission, Prof. Laura H. Wild, with the Committee of

262 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION [1917

the Religious Education Association on the Standardization
of Bible Study in Colleges, the results of the Committee's
study are available, so far as they apply to colleges which in
history and traditions have been closely identified with
Congregational enterprise and leadership. It will no doubt
be a revelation to many to find several of these institutions,
whose educational standing would be unchallenged and
whose names have been held in high honor, nevertheless quite
unable to quab'fy in the first, or even in the second class, in
respect to their facilities for instruction in that history and
literature which lie at the basis of our Christian faith. As
the late president of one of these colleges once remarked,
" It is a curious anomaly that an institution which was origi-
nally founded primarily for the express purpose of providing
instruction in religion and a trained ministry should now have
no professorship in this field! " Doubtless there are many
reasons which account for this condition. Nevertheless, those
who believe that thorough study of Biblical literature and
history is essential to intelligent rehgious leadership will
find in the subjoined report much food for reflection. (See
Section 2, Report of College Section of Commission on
Religious Education.)

While Professor Wild's report seems to indicate that many
of the so-called denominational colleges have not been deeply
concerned with the work of religious education, it should also
be borne in mind that large numbers of Congregational
young people attend state universities and colleges. Of
necessity the work of religious education in these centers is
largely in the hands of the local churches. These churches
are hampered and crippled because the home churches lose
touch with their young people when they leave for college.

The commission therefore recommends the creation of a
college department in each church school. This department
might well be in charge of a college man or woman whose
duty it would be to keep in touch with the young people of
that church and school who are away at college, endeavoring
to tie them up to the church in the college or university
center, and especially urging upon them the claims of religion
in the midst of the multitude of other claims upon their time
and thought.

1917] RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION 263

II. Religious Education in the Home

Rev. Oscar C. Helming, Chairman of the Sub-Commission
on the Home, has made an extensive study of conditions and
needs which concern those phases of rehgious experience
that are the fruit of parental nurture and Christian home
atmosphere. It seems to be a fact that while education in
early times was largely a parental responsibihty and deeply
pervaded by rehgion, in these modern days it is the non-
religious education which is most highly organized and most
richly endowed, then comes institutional education in religion
through the church and allied agencies, while religious nurture
in the home almost wholly lacks a definite program and, it is
to be feared, too often goes by default. It is not merely a
question of maintaining family prayers; it is the larger ques-
tion of developing a spirit of reverence and devotion, of
awakening religious enthusiasm, of estabUshing attitudes of
fidehty and helpfulness and co-operation in respect to the
daily routine, of creating right ideals for the use of leisure time,
the observance of Sunday and the support of civic and relig-
ious institutions and enterprises. The analysis of this situa-
tion as given in the appended Report of the Sub-Commission
will, it is hoped, prove helpful not only to parents but also to
pastors and others who would bring to the home, through the
ministry of the church, a new vision of its responsibihty for
religious instruction and training as well as timely and helpful
suggestions regarding ways and means. (See Appendix C,
Religion in the Home.)

The attention of the Commission has been called to a plan,
originating in the California Conference, whereby suggestions
for family worship are regularly furnished at small cost,
through the co-operation of pastors and the professors in the
Pacific School of Rehgion. These valuable leaflets, bearing
the modest title. Helps by the Way, are an illustration of a
method which might be advantageously employed over a
wider area, to the exclusion of other literature similar in form
but hardly to be commended to our churches. It is hoped
that some way may be found for making this material more
generally available.

264 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION [1917

III. The Extension of Religious Education

1. Christian Discussion Clubs.

In the Report of the Sub-Commission on Religion in the
Home, mention is made of a novel and fruitful plan known as
the Christian Discussion Club. While this has its bearing
upon the home, it is also important as a means of unifying
community sentiment around great religious ideas. Four
programs for these Discussion Clubs have been prepared and
the idea is capable of indefinite expansion. (See Christian
Discussion Club Programs, Pilgrim Press, Boston and
Chicago.)

2. Week-day Religious Education.

Among the many experiments in ^week-day religious edu-
cation which have been undertaken in different parts of the
country; e.g., the North Dakota Plan, the Colorado Plan,
the Gary Plan, etc., the pastor or educational leader in the
local community often finds himself at a loss to know how to
work out a method which will meet his local situation. The
Chairman of this Commission was invited in 1916 by the
Federal Council Commission on Christian Education to pre-
pare a report on the whole subject of Week-day Religious
Education. In this Report he was instructed to examine
critically all of the recent experiments in week-day religious
education and to interpret their significance for democracy.
The report has since been published in book form and con-
tains in addition to the original text a full description of the
recent experiments not only in the United States but in
Canada, Australia, England, France and Germany. (See
Winchester, Religious Education and Democracy, Abingdon
Press, New York).

IV. Lesson Courses
1. The Relation of the Commission to Lesson Courses.

The International Sunday School Lesson Committee was
entirely re-organized three years ago. According to the
present plan of organization the committee is composed of
eight representatives each from the Sunday School Council
and the International Sunday School Association, while one
representative each is allowed to the various denominations

1917] RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION 265

upon condition that the denomination desiring representa-
tion shall itself have a Denominational Lesson Committee.
The object of this latter provision is, first, to secure a means
whereby direct and authoritative suggestion maj^ be received
from the denominations regarding the types of lesson courses
desired; and second, to insure on the part of the denomina-
tions organized study and serious criticism of the lesson out-
line provided by the International Lesson Committee in order
that they may be most intelligently prepared for denomina-
tional use. Two members of our Commission, the Chairman,
and the Chairman of the Sub-Commission on Lesson Courses,
have been members of the International Lesson Committee,
the former as representative of the Sunday School Council,
the latter as representative of the International Sunday
School Association. Our denominational representative is
President W. D. Mackenzie. Our Sub-Commission on Lesson
Courses has acted as our Denominational Lesson Committee
and has given careful attention and criticism to the outline
of lesson courses which have proceeded from this Com-
mittee.

2. The Lmproved Uniform Lessons.

The International Lesson Committee has prepared a new
type of Sunday School Lessons known as The Improved Uni-
form Lessons. These will be issued by our Sunday School
and Publishing Society beginning January 1, 1918. The
Improved Uniform Lessons differ from those hitherto in use
in that the lesson material, while drawn from the same general
portion of Scripture, includes a larger section, thus making
it generally possible to provide story material for the little
people, dramatic and hero stories for the boys and girls, bio-
graphical or ideal-forming material for young people and
more abstract principles for adult study and discussion. The
" uniform " feature is preserved by means of a common
passage for printing and a common devotional passage.
Superficially the quarterlies will not differ greatly in appear-
ance from those used previously, but it is believed that thought-
ful teachers will find the lesson topics, material and lesson
treatment much better adapted than formerly to the needs
of the various ages.

266 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION [1917

3. Courses for Voluntary {College) Classes.

A joint committee, composed of representatives of the
College Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., and the Sunday School
Council, of which committee the Chairman of this Commis-
sion has been a member, have prepared a series of graded
text-books of attractive form and size to meet the peculiar
needs of college students during the Freshman, Sophomore,
Junior and Senior years, respectively, two text-books for each
year, one devoted to Bible study, the other to the study of
missions and social service,

A distinctive feature of this plan is its relation to the
College Curriculum Study Courses, on the one hand, and to
the Sunday School classes, on the other. The courses are
more personal and informal in their nature than are those
which form a part of the college curriculum. Thus they are
designed to emphasize the more immediately personal aspects
of rehgious experience, as distinct from literary and historical
study. They are intended for use in church classes made up
of college students. In this way the Christian Associations
hope to help in bridging the chasm which too often exists in
college committees between the somewhat detached life of
the college and the more normal relationship of the local
church.

V. The Four Hundredth Anniversary of the
Protestant Reformation

On October 31, 1517, Dr. Martin Luther posted Ninety-
jfive Theses on the door of the Church of All Saints at Witten-
berg. Protestant churches the world over are this year uniting
in celebration of the four hundredth anniversary of the Prot-
estant Reformation. By direction of the Council, the Com-
mission on Religious and Moral Education has acted in be-
half of the Congregational churches in preparation for this
quadricentenary celebration. It has joined with Uke com-
mittees from other churches in the organization of a special
committee under the auspices of the Federal Council of the
Churches of Christ in America. It has prepared a special
service for the use of our churches and Sunday schools on
Reformation Sunday, October 28, which is published by

1917] RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION 267

The Pilgrim Press under the title Luther and the Protestant
Reformation.

We may not forget how much we owe to Luther. The
modern passion for freedom which today is stirring in the
remotest corners of the globe, the modern enthusiasm for
education which has come to be synonymous with civilization,
and the modern insistence upon simplicity and sincerity and
immediacy in religion — all go back in spirit to the Reforma-
tion and to the man who did more than any other single
individual to bring it about. There is something of tragic
irony about the celebration in this war-troubled year, when
the rulers of Luther's people stand ranged upon the side of
autocracy and against democracy. But it is all the more
reason that we should in thankfulness remember the Reforma-
tion, and dedicate ourselves with new energy to the ideals
which we so largely owe to it — the ideals of religious freedom,
political democracy, and universal education.

The Commission recommends that this Council take
appropriate action, and that the various state Conferences
be urged to give like recognition to this anniversary at their
meetings this fall; that our ministers and churches be urged
to devote as much of the month of October as they can to the
study, discussion and preaching of themes appropriate to this
anniversary; and that Reformation Sunday, October 28, be
observed by our churches and Sunday schools generally.

VL Topics for Discussion

Assuming that State Conferences and District Associations
are giving to the subject of rehgious education the increasing
attention which it demands, it has occurred to your Com-
mission that a Hst of topics for discussion might be of service
and they are herewith submitted.

The Local Church and Sunday School.

1. The Educational Work of the Local Church.

2. The Administration of the Educational Work of the

Local Church.

3. " Sunday School," " Bible School," or " Church School "?

4. The Committee on Religious Education in the Local

Church.

268 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION [1917

5. The Need for Trained Teachers and how to Meet it.

6. Sunday School Attendance and Discipline.

7. Training Children and Young People to Worship.

8. The Education of the Young in Christian Living.

9. What are we Doing to Train Young People for Intelligent

Performance of Church Work?

10. The Adult Bible Class and its Possibilities.

11. What are the Best Methods of Evangelism through

Education?

12. Decision Day and Church Membership.

The Young People's Society.

1. The Young People's Society as a School of Worship.

2. The Young People's Society as a Training School for

Service.

3. To what Ages are the Methods of the Young People's

Society best Adapted?

4. How may the Work of the Young People's Society best

be Related to that of the Organized Classes for. Young
People in the Sunday School?

The Local Church and the Home.

1. How may the Church Secure the Co-operation of the

Home in Religious Education?

2. The Whole Family in the Church Pew.

3. The Family Pew or the Children's Church?

4. Religion in the Home.

5. The Religious View of Marriage.

6. The ResponsibiUty of the Church for the Training of

Parents.

7. The Place of the Parents' Council in the Church School.

8. The Meaning of Infant Baptism under Present Con-

ditions.

9. Ways and Means for Cultivating the Devotional Life

in the Home.

The Local Church and Education in Missions.
1. The Program of Missionary Education in the Local
Church .

1917] RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION 269

2. Church Support of the Sunday School and Sunday School

Benevolence.

3. The Mission Study Class or Mission Study in the Sunday

School?

4. Graded Lessons in Missions.

5. Denominational vs. Undenominational Missions and

Charities.

The Church and the Public School.

1. The Church and " The Gary System."

2. What attitude should Congregational Churches take

toward Co-operation With the Public Schools in Se-
curing a Larger Place for Religious and Moral Edu-
cation and a Closer Relation between the Educational
Work of the Church and that of the Day School?

The Church and the Student.

1. What the Home Church can do for the Student?

2. How can the Home Church keep in touch with the

Student's Church?

3. How may Congregational Churches Retain their Hold

upon the Interest and Loyalty of College Students
and Utihze their Trained Abilities in Leadership?

4. What forms of Service in the Local Church are open to

the College Graduate?

5. What forms of Professional Service in the Churches are

awaiting Congregational Students? What training is
available to fit them for such Service?

6. Has the Christian Minister ceased to be attractive to

boys in Congregational Homes and to Congregational
Students in College and University?

7. Are Denominational Colleges sacrificing Denominational

Loyalty to Academic Freedom?

8. Some Ways in which Churches may avail themselves

of Assistance from the Biblical Departments in the
Colleges.

VIL Recommendations
In conclusion the Commission would offer the following
recommendations respecting the future organization and work
of the Commission :

270 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION [1917

1. Experience would seem to indicate that the Commission
may profitably be limited to nine members. We would renew
the recommendation of former Commissions, that these
members be chosen in three classes, three members for a
term of two years, three for a term of four years, and three
for a term of six years; and thereafter three at each session of
the Council, for terms of six years each. In this way it will be
possible to maintain a continuous and progressive educational
policy for the denomination.

2. It is costly and impracticable to attempt to constitute
the Commission on the principle of representation according
to geographical areas. If it is desired to pay any regard to
this principle, then at least three should be chosen from each
locality, to facilitate the participation of all members in the
work of one of the Sub-Commissions.

3. While any extravagant expenditure is unnecessary, it is
poor economy to hamper the Commission in its work by a
parsimonious appropriation. Not less than $250 should be
provided, to be available as needed, during the two years'
interval between meetings of the National Council, and it
would be well if this amount could b^ increased to $500.

4. The Chairmen of the State Conference Committees, on
Religious Education, Sunday Schools and Young People's
Work, should make it their business, without further corre-
spondence on the part of this Commission, to study the
findings of the National Council Commission and bring them
to the attention of the churches in their respective Conferences.
In particular, the work which this Commission has done in
respect to the standardizing of Sunday Schools, teacher
training, Bible departments in colleges, home rehgion and
the extension of week-day rehgious education, will prove
largely of no avail unless the State Conferences and Local
Associations devote time and thought to the study of the
principles enunciated and a discussion of the policies sug-
gested.

5. The Commission bequeathes to its successor the follow-
ing matters, respectfully commending them to its careful
consideration, as being of pecuharly timely importance.

(a) The Program of Week-day Religious Education and the
Policy of the Congregational Churches with Reference thereto.

1917] RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION 271

(6) The Program of Religious Education in the Home, with
Definite Suggestions Regarding Methods and Available
Material.

(c) A Plan for Correlating all the Educational Activities of
the Church and Parish, with each other and with the Program
of the Day School and other community agencies of education
in one Community Program of Religious Education.

(d) A Plan for Courses of Training for Superintendents and
other Administrative Officers.

Benjamin S. Winchester Luther A. Weigle

Harry K. Booth Noble S. Elderkin

Oscar C. Helming Norton M. Little

Laura H. Wild

272 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION [1917

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN COLLEGES

Section 2

Report of College Section

The report upon Biblical Instruction in our colleges and
universities is based upon a thorough investigation which is
being made by the Commission on the Standardization of
Biblical Departments appointed by the Section of Bible
Teachers in Colleges and Universities of the Religious Edu-
cation Association. In order to understand just the position
of the institutions affihated with Congregationalism as com-
pared with the main body of institutions of college grade, it
will be necessary to quote much of that report as a whole and
then to consider the particular institutions under our special
observation.

Extract from Report of the Committee on Standardi-
zation OF College Biblical Departments

In 1915, 114 representative colleges and universities of the
country had been examined as to the work offered in Bible
study and the equipment provided for such work. This was
only a start. During the year just closing much more has
been accomplished. The hst of institutions investigated has
crept up to 238. Moreover, colleges and educators are begin-
ning to take notice that the investigators are in earnest in
uncovering the facts concerning what is being offered in this
subject. It has been very interesting to observe the attitude
towards this question of better standards for Bible teaching
that has been taken by the various presidents, professors,
deans and registrars with whom correspondence has been
carried on. It has also thrown much light on the present
status of Bi])lical instruction in America. One cannot be alto-
gether proud of it when he discovers that out of these 238 insti-
tutions that represent practically the best we have in the country
only 64 can qualify for the A class or less than one-fourth, and
that the majority are in the C, D and E classes. And this is
true notwithstanding the fact that the tests adopted are very

1917] RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION 273

modest in character, surely by no means magnifying the
position any department should take in measuring up to
collegiate standards.

There has been, however, much encouragement, as will be
seen as the report proceeds. The fact that the best Bible
teachers in the country are as a rule taking a cordial interest
and often an enthusiastic one towards the work of the in-
vestigators is one helpful indication. The fact that many
college presidents are also taking this attitude and many
others are setting to work immediately to remedy conditions
is also encouraging. The fact that there is a general dislike
to being classified in any but the A group and many vigorous
protests against the effort as a whole and against classifying
a particular institution is another healthy sign, at least an
indication of the importance of the work which opposition
usually betrays. There has been some very kindly criticism
which it is well to take into consideration. But the most
hopeful sign of all is the fact that during the year there has
been a decided improvement in the reports sent in by at least
12 of the institutions reporting at the last annual meeting.
Four have come up from the B group to the A group, one
from C to A, one from D to B, three from D to C, and three
from E to D. And it is the testimony of more than one college
teacher and president also that it has been of the greatest help
to him in approaching trustees and administrators to have this
organization behind him.

We still have much to contend with in attempting to place
Biblical instruction on a par with other collegiate work.
There is yet in some quarters, especially the South, a total
misconception of the academic situation, an assumption that
one hour a week of Bible farmed out to various instructors in
other departments is quite sufficient. This came out in the
meeting of the Association of American Colleges held in
Chicago in January when various presidents arose to explain
how adequate was the Biblical instruction offered in their
institutions. Another difficulty is the assumption by Y. M.
and Y. W.-C. A.'s that voluntary Bible study is really better
on the whole than curriculum courses. Many college presi-
dents have evidently been thankful to have the matter taken
off their hands in this manner and disposed of without the

274 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION [1917

necessity of appropriating funds to establish a chair of Bibhcal
study. As to equipment, it is not easy to make some institu-
tions reahze that any Sunday School maps they happen to
have on hand and any theological books that swell the num-
bers in their library may not suffice to count in our standards.
However, there has been a very gratifying response with
regard to the sample list of 250 books authorized by the
Assn. of Bible Teachers in Colleges and Schools at their
meeting in New York last December. Several presidents have
said they would see to it at once that the list was completed
in their libraries.

One of the most frequent misunderstandings we have had
to clear away has been the assumption that any subjects in
any way allied to Christian teachings should be counted in
the number of hours offered by a Biblical Dept.; Ethics,
Philosophy, Christian Evidences and Missions are most often
inserted. It has finally been found necessary to define our
position thus, that in answering the tests for the A class, 12
hours out of the 18 should be upon the Bible itself; in this
number Hebrew and N. T. Greek may count and the history
of the East so far as it has to do with the Biblical background :
namely, Assyrian, Babylonian and Egyptian history for the
Old Testament and Greek and Roman History so far as they
are related to New Testament times. The remaining six hours
may be given to Religious Education as the term is now tech-
nically understood, but of course Ethics and Philosophy
and Christian Evidences as a part of Philosophy belong to
other departments. Comparative Rehgions, however, and
Missions if taught in the Hght of Comparative Rehgions have
a place here. The misunderstanding seems to arise for the
most part in those institutions that have failed to grasp the
significance of the new movement for Religious Education
and the content of that term as now applied. Such institu-
tions have also often failed to grasp clearly the limits of a
modern Biblical department in the study of the Bible itself.

One of the criticisms received has been that the spiritual
values of Biblical work are the most important of«all and that
in this effort to standardize the courses given, attention seems
to be centered upon the outward and mechanical arrange-
ment, the old, scholastic ideals rather than the vital religious

1917] RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION 275

energy that should be imparted through such courses. One
of our sane and highly esteemed presidents, himself formerly
the head of a Biblical Department, has put it most kindly in
the following paragraph: " You know, I am sure, that I am
deeply in sympathy with the end that you seek to reach by
this plan. But you will let me register a protest by a very
prejudiced partizan in saying that I do not beheve in stand-
ardization. It is universally appealed to in education and as
universally seems to me to miss the soul of things. I know
that in substance you would agree with me, for I know the
values that you seek. The trouble seems to me to be that an
institution might be in Class A and yet might make practically
no contribution to the intelligent output of living interest in
the message of the Bible. This has led. me to feel that the
emphasis needed to be distinctly in other quarters. I es-
pecially feel this when it comes to deahng with the data and
material of the spiritual hfe. I know you will pardon this
expression of qualified enthusiasm."

Such criticisms are worth listening to and we would doubt-
less all agree that the goal we are trying to reach is a Biblical
Department in each college so full of the spiritual dynamic and
at the same time so scholarly that it wiU be a potent spiritualiz-
ing factor in the life of the students while appealing to the
respect of their trained minds. But spiritual perception,
spiritual interpretation and spiritual power belong to such a
free and spontaneous part of the individual character that
any attempt to confine it by stated demands at once drives it
under cover. It is like genius, a free element, to be generated
and fostered, but not to be harnessed to restrictions. Should
we, therefore, give up all attempts to raise the scholarly
standards of Bible teaching because it is impossible to include
standards of spiritual power? This criticism is largely the
ground for whatever difference of opinion there may be as
to the respective values of voluntary and curriculum Bible
study. American colleges seem, however, in general, to have
arrived at the conclusion that Christian Association work is
not all that is necessary even in the religious life of students,
that while it is a most valuable adjunct, the college itself has
a definite responsibility towards the Bible which it cannot
put over upon the shoulders of any other organization, and

276 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION [1917

that as a college it must fulfill that obligation in a collegiate
and therefore scholarly manner. Is not this a worthy goal
to be exerting ourselves to attain, although in doing it we
frankly acknowledge the impossibility of weighing perfectly
the values attached to such study? It will doubtless always
remain true that the college that can secure the personality
of a spiritually-minded instructor is, other things being equal,
vastly ahead of any merely academically ideal institution.
We can, as Bible teachers, register our emphatic belief in this
principle while doing what we can to lift Biblical study above
reproach from the standpoint of scholarship.

Another criticism that has come has been that we seem to
discriminate against the president of a college being the head
of the Biblical Department. In some small colleges it seems
that the president is better equipped than anyone who could
be obtained for the salary available and it seems necessary
that the president do some teaching. But it has been explained
that a first-class department of Chemistry or History would
require that its head make that department his chief concern
and certainly a president cannot make one department his
chief concern nor give it even a major portion of his time.

But while these are some of the adverse criticisms we would
like to quote from some of the encouraging letters. One insti-
tution writes, " I wish to express my gratification at this
investigation for I think it will be helpful in this institution."
Another—" We have for the present only to O. K. your classi-
fication. We hope some day to establish a department which
will cause you to rate us much higher." A State University
president says, " We have nearly all the books and will at
once obtain what is lacking." Another president writes,
" While of course we are not proud of being classed in C, yet
we are fully resolved to attain to Class A and shall feel in-
debted to the plan for standardization for pointing the way
to better equipment. I would greatly appreciate receiving
three more copies of the list of books for a college reference
hbrary. I am fully determined to have all these books in
our library at the earliest date." A professor writes, " Since
returning from the meeting at Columbia S200 has been made
available for books for this department." Another president
says, " I fear we have not the 500 books (required for the A

1917] RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION 277

class). However, we hope before another year to have this
classification."

The work of this committee the past year has eUcited much
more recognition and interest than the first year; a larger
proportion of institutions have taken pains to answer the
questionnaire, and have shown by their inquiries for further
information a desire to be in intelhgent touch with this move-
ment. However, there are a good many who have not re-
sponded and have apparently ignored the matter as unim-
portant. It is to be hoped that another year a more complete
report may be given than is possible at this time.

We will now proceed to a more detailed description of the
results of the year's work and then propose certain questions
that should be settled if the committee is to pursue the work
any further. The plan that has been followed in the investi-
gation has been first to send out a questionnaire embodying
inquiries that would show the status of an institution con-
cerning Bible study and from which it could be classified
according to the eight tests adopted. After such a classifica-
tion had been made a list of the tests for each of the five classes
was sent the president of each institution asking that he
verify the classification. At the same time a Hst of the 250
books approved by the Association of Bible Teachers was en-
closed and the maps recommended specified, namely, either
the Palestine Exploration Fund series, the Kent-Madsen
series, or the George Adam Smith Atlas. In not a few cases
serious discrepancies occurred between the answers to the
first paper and the second, the wisdom of sending the tv/o
papers being quite apparent. Where such discrepancies and
misunderstandings have occurred an attempt has been made
to clear them up so far as possible. The final result as now
tabulated shows 64 in the A class, 29 in B, 74 in C, 45 in D,
and 26 in E where no Bible work at all is offered. Of this total
number 11 are questionable as to their right classification
because of incomplete reports. About 180 out of the 238
have verified their classification by signing the tests officially.
Following is the list of institutions according to classes. It
will be noted that 34 state universities and normal schools
have responded, 20 of these showing that some work in Bible
is offered. Four have the fine record of being in the A class,

278 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION [1917

namely, Michigan, Missouri, Texas and Virginia, two are in
the C class, and 14 have one or more courses offered in other
departments, usually in the Department of Enghsh Litera-
ture. According to indications the Y. M. C. A. seems to be
more vigorous in State institutions than elsewhere, thus mak-
ing up in some measure the lack of curriculum Bible study.

In the classification the list of colleges affiliated with
Congregationalism that appears in our Year Book come under
the following groups:

Class A Carleton, Colorado, Drury, Fargo, Grinnell, Mt.
Holyoke, Oberlin, Piedmont, Pomona, Smith, Wellesley,
Yale.

Class B Beloit, Dartmouth, Ripon, Washburn.

Class C Amherst, Bowdoin, Doane, Fairmount, Fisk, Illinois,
Olivet, Rollins, Whitman, Northland, Yankton.

Class D Marietta, Tabor, Wheaton (III), Wilhams, Middle-
bury, Berea.

Class E American International (none in college department),
Redfield.

Not reporting Kingfisher, Pacific University, Straight Uni-
versity, Talladega, Tillotson, Tougaloo.

The following question has been raised. Shall colleges
offering theological courses be admitted into the A class unless
offering also strictly undergraduate collegiate courses? This
is a very serious question, especially in the Middle West, for
some small denominational institutions doing rather inferior
collegiate work have theological departments offering short
cuts to ministers and at the same time throwing the courses
open to undergraduates. But a course for theological students
is not the kind of course adapted to undergraduates, neither
is denominational theology what we mean by a study of the
Bible. It is not fair to rank such an institution in the A class
alongside of those that are looking out for their undergraduates
in the sense of collegiate courses of high grade. It has finally
seemed necessary for the committee to say that in our judg-
ment eight hours must be given for undergraduates alone, al-
lowing electives among theological courses to count beyond this
number. But the eight hours should be offered within the col-

1917] RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION 279

lege walls, not in the theological school. However, in the case
of two or three universities where a Bible school close at hand
is recognized and credits given by the university, the courses
being advertised in the university undergraduate catalogue
and certain ones required as fundamental, such courses have
been allowed to count in the classification,

Benjamin S. Winchester Luther A. Weigle

Harry K. Booth Noble S. Elderkin

Oscar C. Helming Norton M. Little

Laura H. Wild

BIENNIAL REPORT OF

THE AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS

The two years that have passed in the history of the
American Board will always be famous as the j^ears of the
World War. When the war began in 1914 there were not a few
, zealous friends of the Board who strenuously urged that the
work should rapidly be concentrated in a few fields, that
many of the missionaries should be recalled, that no new work
should be attempted, and that the churches should be in-
formed that for the period of the war the policy of the Board
was to be one of drastic retrenchment. The events of the six
months since America entered the war have completely belied
such fears.

There has never been a time in the churches when even the
average member was so willing to recognize his obligations. In
all probability the principle of the Apportionment has never
been more frankly acknowledged. Men se.e the clear duty to
save the Kingdom of Righteousness from bankruptcy. In
view of the outpouring of $100,000,000 for the Red Cross,
$55,000,000 for the Red Triangle, $7,000,000 for Armenian
Relief and $4,000,000 for the Y. W. C. A., and the many
millions that have flowed in a steady stream to meet the
needs of the stricken populations of Europe, the fidelity and
loyalty of the friends of foreign missions have by no means
reached their limit.

It is not too much to say that the biennial just closed has
been one of the periods of marked expansion in all the Board's
history. Since this war began the total budget of the Board
has increased more than $205,000. The devotion of Christian
people has not been exhausted. We hear business men bear
witness that they are just learning to give. The financial
resources of our people have not as yet been even strained.
Many pastors bear witness that they have been able to win a
more ready response this year than ever before to the claim
that the Board's work is increasing righteousness in the

280

1917] AMERICAN BOARD FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS 281

world at a tiny fraction of the cost that war demands to settle
the jealousies among nations. We may count upon larger
treasures of Christian consecration stored in the churches today
than two years ago, and this fact is one of the foundation
stones in our faith for the future.

The world is being converted to the principle of responsi-
bihty for the needy upon which the Board's work has ever
rested. President Wilson has so guided the thought of the
nation that we have entered this conflict from purely mis-
sionary motives — seeking nothing for ourselves, fighting
without rancor or the spirit of revenge for past indignities,
but only to uphold the rights of the weak and to give justice,
liberty and righteousness to the world. Is the missionary
motive any different from this? No, this is a missionary war.
America sends forth miUions of her sons and spends twenty
biUions of treasure in the first year to carry out a clear-cut
missionary purpose in Europe.

The most significant fact of record for this biennial is the
celebration of the Jubilee of the Woman's Board of Missions.
Fifty years ago Mrs. Mary K. Edwards set out for her work in
Africa. It is a cause of thanksgiving that her life has been
spared through all the glorious years of service until her
Board has celebrated the Jubilee of her departure. Special
interest has been stirred in every group of women throughout
the field of the Woman's Board of Missions. The objective of
the celebration was to raise the Jubilee Building Fund of
$250,000. In every field some expansion of plant and equip-
ment has been made possible. The women have worked with
greatest concentration and devotion, so that the final results
show receipts beyond their aim, amounting to more than
S257,000. In 1918 the Woman's Board of Missions of the
Interior, of Chicago, expect to celebrate their Jubilee and
every Congregationalist will hope for a similar record of
success for their efforts.

Three Tests of the Board's Success

As we seek for concrete facts to sustain the claims just made,
we naturally would test the increasing interest of the church
in the Board's work by raising three questions: (1) Are the

282 AMERICAN BOARD FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS [1917

churches giving to its work? (2) Are recruits for missionary
service abundant and of high quality? and (3) Is there
marked success on the mission fields?

The first of these questions is revealed in Treasurer Wiggin's
report read at the Columbus meeting for the year ending
Aug. 31, 1917. The Board's income for the past year is the
largest it has known in history. The receipts have been in-
creased by over $40,000 in this one year. This increase is not
measured in contrast to a year of failure, but is builded on top
of a notable increase of $105,000 the year before, so that the
biennial period shows a total gain of $146,145. The single
month of August revealed a gain of $54,152, largely due to
thousands of individual checks sent in by generous people who
are unwilling to consider deficit or retreat for the Board.

The gain is well distributed in the different funds. Since
the war began in 1914 the churches themselves have increased
their gifts more than $30,000, a very evident proof of the point
in question. In some years it is to the embarrassment of the
Board to report that most of the increase noted has come from
the devotion of the Woman's Boards, but this does not seem to
be the case, as the Woman's Boards in their total payments
to the parent Board reveal a loss since 1914 of $26,389., Ap-
parently it would seem that the men in the churches are the
ones being stirred by world events. Possibly the women
needed no such stimulus. Possibly also the economies of the
women in the homes are making possible this larger giving by
the families in the church.

The treasurer reports a most gratifying increase in the
amount of money committed to the Board's Finance Com-
mittee for safe keeping and investment in the Conditional
Gift plan, the amount reaching a present total of $1,144,126.
Since the first dollar was thus committed to the Board, not
one penny of interest has ever been defaulted or delayed, in
the very years when the premier investment stocks of New
England have been hard hit. The matter of financial security
is not the only purpose sought, for any Christian who desires
to see his money support a loved one for life, and after that to
go on and on in the endless chain of spiritual influences in God's
Kingdom, can find no better investment than that of a Con-
ditional Gift in the Board's care. The income yielded is not as

1917] AMERICAN BOARD FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS 283

large as Insurance Companies will pay, since these companies,
expect to use up most of the principal in the annuity paid out,
whereas the donor desires the principal to be preserved intact
in order to make the final investment in the Board's work.
The most interesting feature of this fund is that many of the
donors have made from two to twenty gifts in succeeding years
until a considerable portion of their estate is here invested.

It still remains true that the conservative financial policy of
the past 100 years receives new proofs of wisdom in each
treasurer's report. The invested funds of the Board are now
yielding a handsome income, which makes possible a vastly
larger work than could be financed from the gifts of living
church members. A rough calculation reveals that about one-
third of the Board's income this year is from its invested funds,
legacies and matured conditional gifts, while two-thirds come
from living donors. In the past two years the American Board
treasury has been forwarding large sums for direct Armenian
relief. The sum has reached a total this year of nearly $57,000.

Every friend of the missionaries will rejoice in noting the
large amount of money that is sent in by the personal friends
for particular investments in the various fields. These gifts
we call "Specials" since they are not available for the benefit
of the Board's pledges to its missions in the regular appropria-
tions, but they go to the same work and are administered by
the same missionaries who receive the Board's appropriations.
It is frequently a testimony of larger personal interest on the
part of the donor to thus direct the gift to an individual
missionary.
. We cannot close this hasty review of the Board's finances in
the biennial without a word of warning. These increases here
noted have not come by accident. It is not a moment when
any single giver can trust to others to carry the work on. It is
only because the hearts of the people in our churches have been
burdened with a spiritual responsibility for the world's welfare
that these sums are available. The Board can continue to
grow and expand its work only as thousands of individuals in
the more than 6,000 churches of our order think practical
thoughts in our direction, and express their thoughts in the
form of checks sent direct to the treasurer or through their
regular gifts in the church channels. If the Board's income

284 AMERICAN BOARD FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS [1917

falls off it will be because of a lack of devotion and of loyalt}^
on the part of the pastors and the churches.

The New Workers

Forty-four new workers have been sent out by the Board in
the past year, and fifty-two the year before — almost an even
hundred for this biennium.

It is undoubtedly true that for the period of the war the
number of men available for appointment to the mission field
will be greatly decreased. A score of those who were on our
lists, nearly ready to apply for service abroad, have had to turn
their loyalty from the mission field to the battle field. A
recent letter sent out to keep close contact with many of these
candidates received answer from various base camps in
France, from the officers' barracks of our various cantonments,
and on the letter-heads of chaplains in many regiments. They
are scattered far, thesis young men who by now would have
been doing the Gospel's work on the mission field. In no less
degree will they be saving righteousness for the world in the
strenuous days of war before them.

Undismayed by this temporary situation, your Prudential
Committee has reached the conviction that a stirring challenge
must be issued to the students of America, calling upon them
to set apart for missionary service many of the choicest lives
now in our colleges or in the uniform of our army and navy. It
is inconceivable that this great dedication of life represented by
the country's call will not be followed by a similar dedication of
life, though on a smaller numerical scale, for missionary service.
The Board therefore calls for a great body of consecrated
young men and women to look forward to entering missionary
service in our fields in Turkey and the Balkans as soon as the
doors are thrown open. Here is a challenge fit to stir the
blood of our best students. The Moslem world has crumbled
in these past few months. Its unity is no longer even claimed.
The banners of the Crescent were thrown down from the
defences of Jerusalem by the hands of Moslem troops marching
under the British banner of the Cross. The Moslem Arabs
have rebelled from their Turkish over-lord. The great
majority of Moslems in Turkey are said to be in entire dis-
approval of the ruthless acts of the government in Turkey

1917] AMERICAN BOARD FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS 285

today. That house is divided against itself and cannot
stand.

One hundred and seventy-five new Avorkers are needed for
this Turkey Band. The number will includS at least 15
ordained men, 10 physicians, 15 educators and 10 specialists,
including agriculturists and industrial workers, all of these to
go, it is hoped, with their wives. In addition ten nurses are
desired and at least 65 single women under the support of the
three Woman's Boards will be needed. This is the largest num-
ber of missionaries ever asked by any one Board for any one
field.

It is the Board's confident hope that such experiences as
followed the Boxer riots in China will be noted in the mis-
sionary history of the Turkish Empire in the years to come.
No one can doubt for a moment that if the Allied powers are
able to win a degree of independence for the Armenian and
Greek peoples so as to insure them progress, security and
opportunity for thrift and expansion, our schools and colleges
will face one of the greatest harvests for Christian education
the world has ever known.

This large number of recruits will not be able to sail until the
doors are open, but the Home Department seeks immediate
correspondence with those who can consider themselves in this
number. Papers will be prepared and full appointment will be
sought from the Prudential Committee, so that this band can
be made definite and membership in it can become an inspira-
tion in the lives of scores of students.

In addition to this number about 135 new workers are listed
in this yearns needs for other fields. The Board must call upon
pastors, Sunday school teachers and devoted friends in every
church to search out superintendents of schools, principals
and teachers in high schools, and devoted single women who
are making pronounced success of their work in teaching and
in moral inspiration in our grade schools, who may be per-
suaded to enter missionary service. We seek for young college
graduates and particularly those in medical schools and
seminaries who can enter the medical and evangelistic
branches. The three Woman's Boards are most earnest in
their desire to discover larger numbers of qualified young
women. They have not received half the required applications

286 AMERICAN BOARD FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS [1917

this year. If it is true that the number of men available for
missions will be small during the period of the war, it ought to
be true that largely increased numbers of young women will
feel the pull * of missionary devotion interpreted through
patriotism and loyalty in the present war. The Board would
ask for correspondence with doubled and quadrupled numbers
of qualified candidates among the women teachers, nurses,
and evangelistic workers of this country.

This challenge must be addressed to Christian parents as
well as to students, for those who send their children forth
make the greater sacrifice. The parents of ten millions of sons
have given their boys to defend the world's liberty. In every
heart of this throng a new note of consecration must be evident.
Every service flag displayed at the window or before the
church door is proof of a true missionary spirit. Hundreds of
parents have given their sons today in a spirit which exalts
service above personal dangers. Out of such giving will grow
a new missionary consecration.

Marked Success Abroad

As we turn to scan the work of the missionaries we shall
expect to find encouraging signs of progress in some fields,
combined with danger, privation and suffering in those that
have been touched most harmfully by the War. The Foreign
Department report presented at Columbus states that only
the missions in Spain and Mexico are under flags that are not
represented in the battle lines of Europe. "These as have
been sown with peril and the land covered with unrest and
disaster. Cable dispatches have been suppressed, mails
censored and made uncertain, and all the world put into an
unprecedented condition."

In Mexico the past two years have brought pohtical unrest
and uncertainty, but with some few gleams of hope that
Carranza's government now enters a period of security.
Absolute religious liberty has been granted under the new
political constitution. The Board's missionary force is at its
work in spite of uprisings and guerilla warfare. The mission
property has not suffered damage, and the situation only waits
for the right hour to open a new opportunity.

1917] AMERICAN BOARD FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS 287

' The work in Spain has been hmited by high prices, industrial
and political unrest and occasional riots. "Special evangelistic
services have been carried on by Mr. Bowers and his Spanish
colleagues, while the . Girls' School at Barcelona has been
overcrowded with eager pupils."

Our missionaries have been compelled to withdraw from
Austria on account of war conditions. Their work had not
been interfered with by the Austrian Government to any
large extent, but war had swept away most of the men who
were in contact ■udth our congregations, including pastors. We
must await the close of the war before anj^ encouragement can
be expected from this field.

An important mile-stone has been turned in the story of the
American Board work in the islands of the South Sea. Some of
our greatest triumphs have been recorded there, beginning in
the Sandwich Islands and spreading into the Caroline, Gilbert
and Marshall groups. Great missionary names like those of
Hiram Bingham and Titus Coan bring their message of
successful ingatherings among the natives of the island world.
The London Missionary Society has at last assumed all care
and responsibility for the work in the Gilbert Islands, from the
first of July, 1917, the Prudential Committee continuing to
make certain payments for the next five years to carry on the
work. Their famous missionary ship, "The John Williams"
will now inherit all the traditions of our four "Morning Stars."

This does not apply to the work in the Marshall Islands
where Mr. Maas and Miss Hoppin are still at work. Japan is
at present holding the islands and some Japanese Christians
are giving assistance in our present work.

Advance in the Philippines
It has been wise to mark out lines of advanced work in the
Philippines under our own flag at the very time when that
flag has become more prominent in our thinking than ever
before in this generation. The missionary force has been
doubled by the addition of Mr. and Mrs. Woodward and Mr.
and Mrs. Channon, who have moved from the South Sea Island
work to their new fields in Mindanao. There are many indi-
cations that a great ingathering may be expected in the next
few years. The Catholic Church has been discounted in large

288 AMERICAN BOARD FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS [1917

portions of the northern part of our island and a spirit of
expectancy has awaited the developing work of our mission-
aries. We read in one letter of one of the missionaries baptizing
600 souls in the last two years as he has gone from one city to
another. Two medical missionaries are needed to strengthen
this branch of the work. A few thousand dollars have been
raised for advanced work, but the denomination should at
once bring this small sum up to a minimum of S25,000 for
launching the medical work and opening stations at needed
points. A deputation consisting of Rev. Dwight Goddard
and Rev. Frank S. Brewer have already reported at this
Columbus meeting, and Secretary Bell's impressions will be
available on his return from his present journeys in Mindanao.
In Japan the outstanding feature of missionary work has
been the evangelistic campaign undertaken by all denomina-
tions in the last three years. The plans were laid out with
thoroughness, the islands being districted and each portion
being reached by some group of speakers and workers. It is
doubtful if any more comprehensive and thorough evangelistic
csjmpaign has ever been undertaken in any country. Its
leadership was shared by the Japanese ministers, laymen and
missionaries. A total attendance of over 600,000 with more
than 21,000 signed inquirers are among the results reported.
A deputation consisting of Dr. John C. Berry, of the Pru-
dential Committee — for many years an honored medical mis-
sionary in Japan, recently decorated by the Emperor for his
services — and President James A. Blaisdell, of Pomona
College, has gone to join Secretary Bell in their visitation of
every mission station in the islands. Their visit will help
to solve important questions of policy and methods of work.

Opportunity in China
The rapid political changes have not affected the missionary
work adversely, but they have held back the great progress
we have been expecting in the Republic. Among all the
ruined hopes of the present generation, none are more dis-
appointing than those we had formed for China. They have
not been able to build up a government of sufficient strength
to unify their efforts toward progress. Their educational
policy has been interrupted with each succeeding upheaval.

1917J AMERICAN BOARD FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS 289

A hundred new paths opening toward progress have not been
entered upon. Meantime the missionaries have reported great
progress and unHmited prospects from all the mission stations.
Their appeals for reinforcements and for an increased support
prove the success of the work.

Increasingly the Chinese Christians are assuming responsi-
bilities for leadership and the new congregations have been
spreading into many districts. One notable advance has been
into the province of Shensi, opening to the West from our
mission station at Fenchowfu. The generous gifts of an
individual have supported ten workers who are entering walled
cities to gather Christian congregations in the centers of the
great province. In this way Christianity is being preached and
taught, and a certain degree of occupation has been recorded in
fields that have never been formally opened as new responsi-
bilities for our Board. It is a period of aggressive evangelistic
advance around all our mission stations. Large numbers of
inquirers have been gathered into Bible classes and advantage
has been taken of the desire of students and leaders to know
every element of progressive national life. Christian work is
now being carried on, not in defiance of but in alliance with the
chief forces for national progress in China. We have a wonder-
ful missionary group in our stations in that great land and
our least duty is to back them up and help them press forward
to new victories.

In Africa our missions have been seriously affected by the
war. One of our missionaries of German parentage has been
interned for many months past, and it has seemed an unneces-
sary hardship and injustice that one who has gone to Africa
with such an unselfish purpose should thus suffer for the crimes
of German propaganda. The outstanding feature of the work
in Africa is the need for reinforcements. At the present time
the Board is searching for six ordained men, four physicians
and other missionaries for our force in the various fields.

In India and Ceylon the reports of recent progress again
emphasize the importance and necessity of evangelistic
advance. Churches need to be awakened in mission fields as
well as in America. We read of whole congregations starting
off at four o'clock on Sunday morning with musical instru-
ments to conduct services in villages that have never heard the

290 AMERICAN BOARD FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS [1917

name of Christ. We read of members taking pledges to
approach some individual in Christ's name each day, and we
can only wish that similar activity would seize hold upon all
of our churches in America. Congregationalism would grow
far beyond the marks set for us in the Tercentenary campaign,
if we could equal in all our churches here the devotion in ser-
vice and the sacrifice in giving that have been recorded in
many of the mission fields. It is a particular satisfaction to
report that special gifts from interested friends have made
possible the building of several new schools and the strengthen-
ing of the Union Theological Training School under Mr.
Banninga's care in the Madura Mission. It has been a period
of satisfactory progress, and the war has not limited or
crippled our work in any degree in this great continent.

Turkey and the Balkans

In the century of the Board's history only two or three
periods of massacre or upheaval have brought anxiety and
apprehension to the friends of the Board equal to the present
hour in Turkey. Gradually the missionary force has been
withdrawn under pressure from the Turkish government.
Several of cur buildings have been confiscated for military
uses by the officials, but there has been no organized violence
against the missionaries themselves. Repeated reports have
made it clear that the attitude of the local officials has been
favorable and kindly toward the missionaries wherever this
has been permitted by higher officials. None desire to give
further offence to America by unwarranted attack upon the
life or property of American citizens.

Forty-nine of our missionary staff are still occupying their
posts and this number is increased by ten children. Appar-
ently the interior stations are as secure as the coast cities. At
least four of the stations have passed under the direct control
of the Russian government, including Van, BitUs; Erzroom
and Trebizond. In this region a strong group of our mis-
sionaries is carrying on relief work through Tiflis in Russian
territory. The last group made their way thither via the
Pacific and the Siberian railway, requiring four and a half
months to complete this difficult and at times perilous journey.
The missionaries have not been urged to remain at their posts,

1917] AMERICAN BOARD FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS 291

but on the contrary it has been found impossible to draw them
away from their work, cables of advice from the Board head-
quarters or from United States officials being disregarded in
many cases.

In all the chronicles of the Board nothing surpasses the
heroism and the devotion with which your missionaries have
served the cause of Christ in Turkey and the Balkans. Sur-
rounded by pestilence and infectious diseases, daily witnessing
the horrible sufferings of their Armenian friends, constantly
standing in the presence of death from mob violence or disease,
daily face to face with ruthless and cruel officials, this devoted
band has exemplified the courage and fidelity of Christ Him-
self. Millions of dollars of relief money have been administered
by them for the starving groups of Armenians in their region.
It is clear that if the missionaries had taken counsel of the
fears of their friends, they would have left hundreds of thou-
sands of Armenian Christians to their death. All the immense
organization of relief has rested upon this rock foundation
of the missionaries' fidelity.

Not less than fourteen of our missionaries have perished from
causes connected with the War, such as typhus fever and the
terrible overstrain of relief work. At a recent meeting of the
Prudential Committee a group of returned missionaries told
their stories. Every one of the speakers had lost husband,
wife or child from these dread causes. And be it remembered
it could never have been charged to their account as cowardice
if they had withdrawn from the land when danger threatened,
but they remained even though it required the greatest pries
of all.

"Oh God, may grace to us be given
To follow in their train."

All that we can do or say in our comfortable churches at
home will never adequately appreciate the splendor of their
deeds. And what do they ask of us as sharers in the partner-
ship of service ? Only that we shall be ready to enter in once
again with redoubled strength and determination when the
doors swing open. Not one of these missionaries would think
of abandoning his field. All are certain that the new day will
bring some kind of liberty aiid protection for the Armenian
race to develop thrift and prosperity under new conditions.

292 AMERICAN BOARD FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS [1917

In addition four-fifths of the Turkish people will be open to the
Gospel as never before. Schools and colleges will be thronged,
hospitals will be reopened to doubled usefulness, and every
branch of missionary service will find its fullest fruition.

This is the challenge to Christendom from the heart of the
Moslem world. It rests not upon the dreams but upon the
past and present deeds of the missionary staff. It is equally
true that for our final achievement in Christ's name in the near
East even these missionaries will be powerless apart from the
increasing loyalty of the churches. This call does not become
a "call" unless it falls upon willing ears. The missionaries
have led the way, but they cannot go forward unless thou-
sands of individuals in the Church are willing to pledge their
prayers and their aid in the practical form of a check to back
up the new advance that will be necessary in Turkey. No
Christian in the world can deny that the courage with which
Christian missionaries entered again upon their task in China
after the Boxer riots, brought about one of the greatest
victories of all time. In exactly the same way if the Con-
gregational churches give utterance to their faith and purpose,
we can go far toward bringing Christ to the heart of the Mos-
lem world, once these doors have reopened. May God give us
faith and faithfulness in equal measure for the great tasks that
lie before us!

REPORT OF THE CONGREGATIONAL HOME
MISSIONARY SOCIETY

The best biennium in the history of The Congregational
Home Missionary Society is here reported — possibly not in
all respects, but clearly the best in the additions to home mis-
sionary churches and in the total of regular receipts.

Spiritual Results

The most important emphasis is properly placed on
the number of persons uniting with the churches. In
this respect, 1914-15 reached high tide to that date;
1915-19 exceeded its predecessor, and 1916-17 repeated
the process, outrunning any year in the history of the Society
by 647.

From April 1st, 1915, to Mtirch 31st, 1917, the number of
additions to home missionary churches aggregated 28,751
as compared with 27,715 in the preceding biennium. The
number of additions on confession of faith was 18,431 com-
pared with 17,185 for the earher period. The average num-
ber of missionaries per year proves to be 1,727, the last report
showing 1,734. There were 138 new churches organized
instead of 194 in 1913-15. One hundi-ed and eighteen church
buildings and 62 parsonages were constructed, uniformly
with the aid of the Church Building Society, as against 150
churches and 54 parsonages in the preceding twenty-four
months. Churches coming to self-support numbered 106 over
against 113 in the corresponding period in the last report.
In 1916-17 there were 2,423 churches and mission stations; in
1914-15, 2,345. Of these, 469 used foreign languages to the
number of 22; while two years before, 21 non-English
languages were used in 415 stations.

These figures reflect changing home missionary conditions.

293

294 CONGREGATIONAL HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY [1917

In general, the work grows more intensive. The day calls
for comparatively fewer but stronger men working in fields
not so many but more permanent.

Finances

More money was received by the Home Missionary Society
in the biennium than in any two successive years in its history.
Only one single year recorded larger receipts than 1916-17.
In 1895-96, phenomenal legacy returns carried, the total
shghtly above that for the last year. Taking the ten-year
period, there has been a gain of 25 per cent, in the gifts of the
living to the Society through the state and national offices,
while the membership of the denomination has grown by 14
per cent. Perhaps with the changing value of the dollar, the
increasing wealth of the people, and the increasing expenses of
the work, the gain should have been larger; nevertheless, the
showing is recorded with gratitude.

For the two years, the receipts for national, state and city
work total $1,323,339.06 as compared with $1,308,007.89
in the preceding biennium. Money added to the Legacy
Equalization Fund is not included here. This has amounted
to $79,183.95, which for comparison should be added to the
first figure. In the preceding two years, the Equalization
Fund was diminished by $29,388.37. The funds of the So-
ciety have increased from $864,264.61 on March 31st, 1915,
to $1,122,488.87 at the close of the last fiscal year. Of this
amount, $99,795.58 constitutes the Legacy Equalization
Fund, the purpose of which is to steady the fluctuating re-
turns from legacies upon which the National Society depends
for 48 per cent, of its annual income available for disburse-
ment. Since the organization of the Society, $29,274,977.18
has been expended in the planting and fostering of churches
and missions in the United States. This has been coined into
fine spiritual values.

It does not appear that the stress of war times has dimin-
ished the income of the Home Missionary Society. We could
have hoped, however, that with the increasing strength of the
denomination, and with the activities of the Tercentenary
campaign, there would have appeared a very much larger in-
crease in regular income.

1917] congregational home missionary society 295

Increasing Demands

The day of home missions has not passed and is not passing.
The settlement of America has but fairly begun. The entire
population of the country if living in a single western state
would not furnish a density equal to that of New Jersey at
the present time. On the enlarging circumference of popula-
tion increasingly numerous, new communities call for new
institutions of religion.

Again, the difficulties met by the home missionaries are
greater than formerly. The effective minister of today must
be a man of parts. He must master the city as well as the
country. He must use languages in pentecostal diversity
and deal with multitudes of people quite unfamiliar with his
mode of thought.

As all other things, so home missions must be thought of in
the light of the world war. The home missionary as a home
missionary may appear to have but little contact with the
war. Here and there, he can minister to men in camps. To
a degree he may shape pubHc opinion and influence individuals
in the service of their country. But beyond these surface
activities, the work of the home missionary, with that of his
brother in the pulpit generally, is fundamental to the life of
the nation. All our institutions are founded upon the char-
acter of the people, but the character of the people roots in
religious and moral convictions. These convictions are born
of and nourished by true religion. The home missionary
inculcates true rehgion in places of greatest need and greatest
danger. With the home missionary, the country is inbreathed
with rehgion; without hini, it would be leavened with ir-
religion and consequent decay. American character of today
is traceable to the home missionary of yesterday; American
character of tomorrow depends upon the ho'me missionary of
today.

Present Policies

A few outstanding pohcies in the present administration of
the Home Missionary Society should be made clear to its
members.

1. Division of Labor. In a much larger measure than

296 CONGREGATIONAL HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY [1917

previously, the General Secretary intrusts the direction of
departments to his associates, holding them responsible for
these departments, and relieving them of other obligation.
The results are seen in increasing efficiency in the treasury
department, the women's department, the field administra-
tion, the office management, the editorial work, and in co-
operative and promotional activities. For example, Dr.
Swartz, as Secretary of Missions, devotes himself to bringing
the work of the National Society in the field to the highest
possible efficiency. In him the superintendents have a fra-
ternal and vigilant adviser; from him the individual mission-
aries receive suggestions and stimulus. The Secretary of
Missions has particularly emphasized evangelism in the broad
sense of the term. To this attention is traceable the increasing
number of additions to home missionary churches, and out of
this emphasis grew the idea of the Tercentenary Program in
its present form. Comparable results could, be shown in the
other departments did space permit.

2. A Living Wage. Realizing that the very heart of home
missions is in the home missionary, and that he cannot be
and do his best when undernourished physically, mentally
and spiritually, the administration is giving persistent atten-
tion to the urgent question of raising ministers' salaries. It
cannot be home missionary salaries alone, for the minister in
the self-supporting church and in the missionary church is
the same man, and the need of larger salaries on the part of
the one is almost as great as on the part of the other. The
process is necessarily slow — it might even be called dis-
couraging — but progress is being made and more progress
must be made if the Congregational churches are to maintain
themselves and do their increasingly important work in these
exacting times.

3. Comity. That the day is past for the overlapping of
churches in missionary territory is the conviction of the Home
Missionary Society. It beheves, however, that America
should be made safe for comity. There can be no real comity
without fairness. For one denomination, because it is broad-
minded, supinely to leave the field when a narrow-minded sect
desires to possess it does not further the cause of comity.
We believe, therefore, in practising comity at all times and ia

1917] CONGREGATIONAL HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY 297

contending for comity whenever it is necessary. This is
rapidly coming to be the view of most of the denominations of
consequence, and the developments toward true fraternity
are extremely gratifying. There is today but little unseemly
competition in home missionary fields. What there is, is
being gradually and systematically eliminated. In this
process The Congregational Home Missionary Society is
playing no inconsequential part.

4. National and State Cooperation. The Constituent
State Plan has now been in operation for a full decade. Its
fruits are proving its wisdom. Each constituent state is
developing a sense of responsibility for the religious life of its
commonwealth and is effectively promoting the income for
that commonwealth and for the National Society. If there
are losses incident to non-centralized direction, they are more
than compensated for by the clear advantages growing out of
local initiative and cooperation.

Relations are in every case most cordial. In the councils
of the Society, the general office and those of the several
states receive and give help and advice most freely. The
states furnish assistance to the General Society and in turn
the national office serves the states in many ways.

5. Debts. The No-Debt Policy is dominant. Since the
Together Campaign of a decade ago freed the General Society
of its load, each fiscal year has been closed without a debt —
except that of work undone for lack of funds. It intends to
pursue this policy. All eventualities, of course, cannot be
foreseen, and debt may be forced on the Society at some time,
but it will come only in that way. Some of the constituent
states have been unable to avoid indebtedness, and obliga-
tions aggregating approximately $30,000 now burden a group
of states which are struggling with fair success to free them-
selves from the handicap.

The Realignment

Pursuant to the instructions of the last meeting of the Na-
tional Council, The Congregational Home Missionary Society
and The Congregational Church Building Society have been
working in close affiliation since April 1st, 1916. Pending
opportunity for consummating the formal and legal actions

298 CONGREGATIONAL HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY [1917

necessary, it was found possible to constitute the Board of
Trustees of the Building Society and the Executive Committee
of the Home Missionary Society of the same fifteen persons.
The affairs of the two societies have therefore been directed
by this committee in joint monthly session. Since Decem-
ber 1st, 1916, these same persons have constituted the Exten-
sion Committee of The Congregational Sunday-School and
Publishing Society, by act of the Directors of that Society.
The actions of the committee in this capacity have required
the ratification of the Directors of the Sunday-School Society.
The offices have been brought into juxtaposition. A common
General Secretary has been elected, the division of time and
salary being five-tenths to the Home Missionary Society,
three-tenths to the Building Society, and two-tenths to the
Sunday-School Society.

Certain advantages in this arrangement began to appear
early. The time and attention of the General Secretary given
to the other gocieties are scarcely lost to the Home Missionary
Society, because they are so intimately related that the ad-
vancement of the work of either is of real service to the other.
Seventy-five per cent, of the Sunday-School Extension workers
are joint men, giving a part of their time to the home mission-
ary work. It has been found of advantage to the societies
and to the workers to have these directed by the same ad-
ministration. Every missionary Sunday-school needs pas-
toral oversight; practically every strong church should have
a branch Sunday-school. These policies, it develops, can
be worked out under a common administration with greater
ease than under cooperation on the part of unaffihated organi-
zations. Again, in a number of cases the problems of the mis-
sion field have been found to be double. Both the man and
the building have been needed. The facing of these questions
by the same people at the same time with all the facts at hand,
has brought prompt and satisfactory solution in a number of
instances. So, also, on the field, the Treasurer and the General
Secretary have been able to visit local churches and speak
for both the Home Missionary and the Building Societies at
the same time with great satisfaction to the local workers as
well as to the societies.

Incidentally, there have been some economies in room rent,

1917] CONGREGATIONAL HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY 299

traveling expenses, etc., while thus far no evidences have
appeared of lessened income or interest in consequence of
this closer association. The advantages seem to be real.

With gratitude, the above report is submitted, and with
prayer for the increasing usefulness of the Society which in
the past has been so signally honored of the denomination
and of God.

REPORT OF THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY
ASSOCIATION

THE MISSIONARY FORCE

In this report to its constituency, the Association desires to
present itself first of all as a body of missionaries. Its Annals
concern the conditions of life and work of 827 men and women,
selected for ability and consecration, generally professionally
trained and commissioned in behalf of the churches to incar-
nate Christian brotherliness to the neediest of our fellow
Americans. Their numbers and functions are as follows:

Educational Work

Presidents and principals 60

Professors (college and professional departments) 45

High school instructors 145

Elementary instructors 146

Girls' industries instructors 41

Mechanical industries instructors 29

Agricultural instructors 9

Music instructors 42

Commercial instructors 4

Matrons, preceptresses 54

Treasurers and clerks 23

Librarians 6

Nurses 2

Superintendents of buildings and grounds 1

Professors emeritus 2

609
Counted twice 7

602

Church and Evangelistic Work

Superintendents and general missionaries 17

Negro pastors 107

Indian pastors 32

Oriental pastors and lay workers 24

Porto Rican pastors and lay workers 10

White pastors 29

Hawaiian pastors 6

225

Grand Total 827

To maintain this noble army, including the entire cost of
recruiting it, securing funds to support it, to transport it, to

300

1917] AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION 301

house and feed it, to supply plant, equipment and all facilities,
together with all cost of administration, the Association spends
less than $600 per missionary per year. It is ashamed that
the amount is so little.

THE MISSIONARY FIELD

The South: Educational Missions

1915-16 1916-17

Schools Negro White Negro White

Theological 2 1 2

College 5 1 5 1

Secondary 22 4 21 4

Elementary 5 .. 5 1

AffiHated 1 1 1 1

35 7 34 7

1915-16 1916-17

Pupils Negro White Negro White

♦Theological 202 92 204

College 300 42 311 83

Secondary 3,246 627 3,345 729

Elementary 4,990 551 4,566 685

Special 242 23 422 21

Night 133 . . 99

Total 9,113 1,335 8,947 1,518

Boarders 1,442 391 1,677 • 521

A background for these figures will be found in the very
comprehensive report of the Deputation sent by the National
Council's Commission on Missions to visit the South. It
enumerates changes in the Southern educational situation
which "called inexorably for increase of expenditure," and
continues, "The old type of school with a budget of a few
hundred dollars a year has ceased to be possible. Coincident
with this, the educational and social conscience of the adminis-
trators of the American Missionary Association has forced
them to seek continual improvement in equipment and
method. Since this increase of cost has been matched by no
corresponding increase of gifts, there remained but one thing
for the Association to do, viz., reduce the number of its schools.
It has acted with courage and decision in accordance with
this necessity. During the past ten years it has closed 29 of its
schools in the South (white and black, lowland and highland) ,

* Including correspondence students.

302 AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION [191:7

SO that the total stands at 43 today (1915) as against 72 in
1906. Fortunately the increase of the public school system
just mentioned has in some cases made the closing of a school
expedient as well as inevitable. In other cases, it has been
found possible to turn a school over to another denomination.
But in a few communities, nothing has taken the place of the
school closed and its discontinuance means a net loss to the
people served.

" The Association is expending upon the 43 schools now
operated a slightly larger amount than upon the 72 of ten years
ago. There are more teachers in the 43 than in the 72. But
the number of pupils is 10,000 as against the earher 15,000.
In other words, the work is intensive rather than extensive.
Three times as much money goes into repairs and upkeep as
formerly. New buildings are more substantial, sanitary, and
attractive than those of an earlier period. The teaching force
receives a larger compensation, although here, alas, no decided
gain can be reported."

The figures for the present biennium show no farther
significant decrease in the number of institutions. The single
notable change is the transfer of Atlanta Theological Seminary
to the care of the Congregational Education Society by
recommendation of the Commission on Missions. The reduc-
tion in elementary grade enrollment goes on and is hkely to go
farther. The secondary grades constitute the force in im-
mediate training for teaching and leadership. Their ranks
show notable proportionate increase. In the "white" column,
it is chiefly Piedmont College which swells the number both of
college and secondary pupils. Tuition receipts from the
Southern schools were $79,275, a gain of $7,122, the largest
of any year of our history. An unusually small number of
schools had debts at the end of their year. In view of the cost
of living, this is amazingly satisfactory and a cause for pro-
found thankfulness. We asked one of our principals how it
was done. He said, "We sacrificed."

As stated above, the National Council's Commission on
Missions recently sent a deputation to study all phases of
denominational work in the South. It gave careful attention
to^the^work of the A. M. A., visiting many of its institutions,
and rendered a preliminary report directly to the Executive

1917] AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION 303

Committee, which has given it great encouragement. The
Commission will report formally to this session of the National
Council. Meanwhile, an even more exhaustive investigation
of our Southern educational work has been made by the U. S.
Bureau of Education. In an authoritative survey of the
entire field of Negro education covering 1,150 pages and made
over a period of five years at a cost of $60,000, it covers ex-
haustively the history and policy of our work and its adminis-
trative methods, beside studying its institutions one by one,
each in its setting. We can now refer inquirers to this
authority: "Do you want to know about the A.M. A.? Ask
Uncle Sam."

The Fortunes of Particular Institutions. Fisk University has
recently found S150,000 of comparatively "easy money" for
the betterment of the plant. Two-thirds of it was an initial
gift from two great educational funds. This will enable Fisk
thoroughly to modernize its facihties, and still further
strengthens its educational pre-eminence. The three years'
endowment campaign of Talladega College has been brought to
a close with a net addition of about $125,000 to productive
funds, and a similar effort for Tougaloo launched. Simul-
taneously came the discovery of structural weaknesses in old
Strieby Hall, the main academic building of Tougaloo, w^hich
compelled it to be abandoned and demoHshed. The Associa-
tion therefore authorized President Holmes to undertake to
raise $225,000 for endowment and to replace Strieby. The
situation still required some immediate remedy, and $15,000 of
capital funds had to be drawn upon to erect buildings for
emergency use. These will ultimately serve as faculty homes.
The war situation meanw^iile has made the endowment effort
difficult, which leaves Tougaloo under great pressure both for
plant and for funds for support. It has, however, happily
secured special funds during the two years for cement
walks for its campus and for a deep well and water
system. The prospects and responsibility of Straight
College have been greatly improved and enlarged by the
removal from the city of New Orleans of a Baptist institution
for Negroes which has hitherto divided the field. Some such
adjustment had been long discussed between the denomina-
tional boards concerned and its culmination gives striking

304 AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION [1917

evidence that interdenominational co-operation is a reality
and that missions are coming to view the total job as one. Rev.
Howard A. M. Briggs of Massachusetts has just undertaken
the presidency of Straight.

At Christmas, Ballard Normal School took possession of its
new property on the edge of Macon, Ga. There is a beautiful
five-aore campus and a worthy group of three buildings of
excellent design and construction. No other secondary school
has so good a plant. Important buildings and betterments
have been added at Brick School, North Carolina, Dorchester
Academy, Georgia, Grand View, Tenn., and Cappahosic, Va.
Similar projects are now under way at Pleasant Hill, Tenn.
and King's Mountain, North Carolina.

A significant effort has been made to make the adminis-
trative methods of the Association more definite and helpful
by the revision and enlargement — after thirty years — of
the Association's Manual for its schools. The fundamentals
underlying the Manual were worked out by a commission of
representatives from the schools, which studied its problem
for a year through sub-committees and had two extended
sessions of the whole body. The most important single
result is a new system of graded salaries increasing with
length of service and looking toward a future participating
pension system.

The South: Churches and Evangelism (1915-16)

Number of Churches 177

Ministers and Missionaries • 112

Church Members 11,622

Total Additions 1,147

Sunday School Scholars 9,091

Benevolent Contributions $3,909.41

Raised for Church Purposes $.54,330.31

Church statistics for 1916-17 are not completed at the
writing of this advance survey. It will be recalled that the
white churches of the Southern mountains have now been
turned over to the Home Missionary Society. Our report is
therefore for Negro churches only. Monthly reports from
these churches do not indicate any striking statistical changes.
Many of the churches have suffered serious financial loss by
the Northern migration of their members, which is sure to be

1017] AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION 305

followed later by shifting of membership. Reports were re-
quested from each church in an effort to measure the effect of
the Northern movement upon our church life and to connect
those migrating with Congregational influences in their new
homes. It appears that the chief migration is from the in-
dustrial cities and regions of the South and that as yet it
has affected the strictly rural churches but little. Even the
remotest, however, are sometimes touched by this great
movement and the end is not yet. The Association presses
most urgently upon the churches of the North their duty of
hospitality and helpfulness toward those who seek a Land of
Promise where Congregationalism is strong and who do not
always find it.

Rush Church, Atlanta, has occupied the parish house unit
of its new church building, and Central, New Orleans, has
remodeled and modernized its fine old ante-bellum structure,
without loss of architectural dignity and at cost of about
$7,000. The Memphis congregation has sold its old building
and purchased a lot adjoining Le Moyne Institute, with which
it is now worshipping temporarily. Other important building
projects are under way, notably the Pilgrim Settlement House
of the Louisville church. When completed, Louisville will
have facihties for social work unsurpassed by Negro churches.
About one-third of the cost comes from white citizens of
Louisville, none of whom are Congregationalists. Florida has
seen her first Negro Congregational church organized — that
at Fessenden Academy, largely through the fatherly guidance
of Honorary Superintendent Geo. W. Moore. A hopeful
mission has also been opened in Tallahassee, the capital city.

The year has been one of faithful evangelistic effort. Nota-
ble revivals occurred at Raleigh, N. C, and elsewhere.
Alabama has had a special evangelist for tent meetings. Our
pastors and superintendents have been active in ministry to
Negro soldiers. Both our schools and our pulpits have been
represented in the Negro officers' training camp at Fort
Des Moines.

Very definite progress has been made in the use of the
apportionment plan by the churches and in Sunday school
methods. In all fines there is increasing acceptance of the
standard denominational ideals and procedure.

306 american missionary association [1917

Indian Missions

1915-16 1916-17

Churches 23 24

Outstations 15 16

Church Members 1,395 1,476

Sunday School Scholars 515 945

Benevolent Contributions $1,075 $1,289

Raised for Church Purposes $2,340 $2,383

Missionaries and Evangelists 46 54

(School Statistics)
Schools 5 5

Secondary Pupils 30 33

Elementary Pupils 278 224

Bible Correspondence Pupils 209 184

Total Enrollment 517 441 ,

Boarders 117 178

Work continues on eight reservations. The increase in
missionary force as reported is chiefly in native workers em-
ployed for a short time, but there has been a significant addi-
tion of an assistant superintendent and wife to supplement
the Fort Berthold mission. Death has claimed another of our
devoted superintendents, Rev. J. G. Burgess of Crow Agency.
This field presents serious problems, in meeting which the
Association is having the active co-operation of Montana
Congregationahsm. The New Santee Normal School building
has been fittingly dedicated to the memory of Dr. A. L. Riggs,
the long-time principal. There has been a gratifying increase
in church membership and a striking increase in Sunday
school enrollment.

All friends of the Indian pray for the hastening of the day
when he shall be no longer treated as half ward and half citizen.
The government has this year announced a long step in this
direction, which it calls "the dawn of a new era in Indian
administration." It declares, "The time has come for dis-
continuing the guardianship of all competent Indians and
giving even closer attention to the incompetent that they may
more speedily achieve competency." In this direction, it
proposes to hasten the granting of patents in fee to property,
to adopt a liberal policy in the sale of surplus lands in order
that the proceeds may be used in improvements, also in the
distribution to individuals of moneys now held by the govern-
ment to their account. The declaration finally states that

1917] AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION 307

many Indian children are now being educated in government
boarding schools whose parents are amply able to pay for their
education, and that they are not hereafter to be enrolled
except on payment by the parents of the actual per capita
cost of their education and transportation. This ruling is
declared to be immediately in force. So far as enforced, it
will greatly help the position of the mission schools which
hitherto have had to compete with government schools giving
gratuitous education, the tone of which was necessarily non-
religious where not distinctly irreligious or under strong
Roman Catholic influence. When the Protestant Indian is
free to send his children to the school he prefers, and when his
moneys are freed so that he can pay for their education and
support his church as well, both our resources and our responsi-
bility will be greatly enlarged, pending the development of
the free public school system and its full extension to the
Indian population.

Alaskan Missions
The Alaskan work has made steady progress under the
leadership of Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Coffin, who are also govern-
ment school teachers. Mrs. Coffin has now resigned from the
government service to give exclusive time to the mission for
the coming year. Preliminary negotiations have been had
with the government looking to our release from responsibility
for the reindeer industry, which is now so developed in the
Wales district as no longer to be profitable from a missionary
standpoint. When this is consummated, it will release needed
funds for evangelistic and social work in Alaska.

Porto Rican Missions

1915-16 1917-18

Ordained American Missionaries 4 3

Native Workers 6 10

Churches 11 11

Membership 694 801

Outstations 35 23

Lady Missionaries 6 5

Besides indicating a substantial growi:h in the churches, the
statistics indicate a concentration of organization in our
mission. When Porto Rico was first occupied by us, the
missionary superintendents had to give large amounts of time

308 AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION [1917

to the teaching and training of native workers and to details
of parish administration. Now, we have schools for ministerial
training and a' generation of church members has grown up
capable of undertaking much of the normal life of a Con-
gregational church. In view of these changes, the superin-
tendency of all evangelistic work has been centralized under
the leadership of Rev. A. G. Axtell, with happy results.

Blanche Kellogg Institute has continued its important social
work in connection with the Santurce church and now reopens
as a training school for girls supported and controlled by the
Association but definitely recognized as an interdenominational
school by the Evangelical Union of the island. A system of
exchange of free scholarships between the denominations
enables the Association to use the theological and industrial
schools of co-operating denominations for the boys of its
missions, and the entire Protestant educational system is
being administered as a community of interests. The move-
ment for organic union of the more closely united denomina-
tions is now in the phase of discussion but seems to be making
progress. The Association has committed itself to this when
a feasible basis can be arrived at locally. The Evangelical
Press, jointly supported by all the Protestant denominations,
continues its excellent work. There is a more definite recogni-
tion of social service in connection with the evangelistic work,
and lady missionaries are being chosen with respect to their
training and capacity in this line.

Best of all is the completion and occupancy of the new cen-
tral mission hospital at Humacao and the successful campaign
for funds to complete the medical residence adjoining it. We
shall be increasingly proud of this branch of our work, which
is now ministering to 18,861 cases in a single year.

Oriental Missions

1915-16 1916-17

Churches 13 15

Members 1,334 1,386

Additions 280 127

Enrollment in Mission Schools 646 719

Workers 39 55

Behind the particular statistics of Oriental work lies the
great fact that it has ceased to be chiefly for single men

1917] AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION 209

temporarily resident in America, and has come to be work for
a permanent American-Oriental population consisting of
families, and is increasing along normal denominational lines.

Indications of definite growth in church life are the ordina-
tion by council of two pastors, one Japanese and one Chinese,
the organization of one Chinese and one Japanese mission as
separate Congregational churches, the completion of a suitable
and attractive building for the Japanese church at Santa
Barbara, and the growth in fellowship and denominational
consciousness in the associations of Chinese and Japanese
churches and ministers. Another building enterprise for the
Japanese church at San Diego has been launched. The
Federated Japanese church of San Francisco has moved into
a large building which is to be their permanent home, and the
Federated Japanese Church of Pasadena has secured an
unusually attractive and commodious location for church and
dormitory.

The movement toward federation of Japanese churches has
progressed steadily, without, however, diminishing the intelli-
gent loyalty of our pastors and church members to Congre-
gational principles. At Santa Ana federation is with the
Presbyterians, and at Riverside with the Methodists. In
both cases there is a distinct gain in economy and efficiency.
The interest of local American churches which has always
contributed so much to the success of our missions will ap-
parently be maintained under the new conditions. Chinese
Christians in America are making an effort to add another
large church to their extensive missionary operations in China
and plan to soon send one of our pastors back there as their
missionary. They are equally aggressive in evangelistic work
at home under their own initiative. One Japanese church has
purchased an automobile so that its pastor may conduct
services in camps of rural Japanese, and another has the use
of a machine to bring in children from a wide region to its
Sunday school.

Subsidies to Other Mission Boards
The Association continues its grants of aid representing
the fellowship of the mainland churches with the work of the
Hawaiian Evangelical Association. Seven missionaries of the

310 AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION [1917

American Board are already supported by funds held by the
Association for African work, and the Association is co-
operating financially with the Board in a proposed African
station to be manned by American Negroes.

New Work
The new work transferred from the Congregational Educa-
tion Society upon advice of the Commission on Missions has
been carried on for the year under the arrangements and so
far as possible under the policies already in force. It has
meanwhile been having sympathetic study with reference to its
future development and efficiency and some probable con-
centration of fields. The work as received from the Educa-
tion Society was in excellent condition, but involved an
unusually large expense relative to the enrollment of the
schools. Its continuance on the present scale will necessarily
depend somewhat upon the continuation of the special support
which has previously been available for this particular body of
work. The statistics follow:

Utah Mission Schools

Secondary Schools 2

Elementary Schools 3

Secondary Pupils 150

Elementary Pupils 377

627
Teachers 25

Missions for Spanish-Speaking Peoples

(New Mexico, Texas and Tampa, Fla.)

Schools, elementary 9

Pupils 563

Boarders (Rio Grande Institute) 55

Teachers 25

Supervision
The enlargement of the Association's field added to its con-
viction that it must give all its work more careful oversight
has led to the increase of supervisory force by the election of a
new associate secretary in the Department of Missions and of
a supervising architect for the entire work on its property side.
Rev. Rodney W. Roundy of Keene, N. H., has entered most

1917]

AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION

311

happily into the work of associate secretary. Mr. Arthur
B. Holmes has more than amply justified his appointment as
supervising architect in savings of expense and improvement
of quality in buildings and betterments.

Financial
The fiscal year 1916-1917 closes with a credit balance of
$296.67— receipts being $498,163.94 and payments $497,867.27
exclusive of the Daniel Hand and Pierce Funds reported
separately. This small balance reduces the debt of the
Association brought forward from the fiscal years 1914-1915
and 1915-1916 to $33,427.59.

The following table shows the current receipts and expendi-
tures of the past fiscal year as compared with those of the year
1915-1916:

Fiscal Year
Receipts and Expenditures Twelve Months, from October 1 to

September 30

Receipts
Donations:

From Churches

191^-16

$106,426.95

9,993.10

1,310.63

31,977.14

306.00

1916-17

$110,950.16

11,011.04

1,2.54.50

35,391.60

93.50

Increase

$4,523.21
1,017.94

3,414.46

Decrease

From S. S

From Y. P. S. C. E

From W. M. S

From Other Societies

$56.13
212.50

Total from. Churches, etc .
From Individuals

$150,013.82
69,125.27

$158,700.80
87,158.03

$8,686.98
18,032.76

Total

$219,139.09
12,833.31

$245,858.83
13,483.33

$26,719.74
650.02

Conditional Gifts Released. .

Total Donations

$231,972.40
79,698.59

$259,342.16
106,663.96

$27,369.76
26,965.37

Legacies

Total

$311,670.99

"si, 075.19

72,153.78

5,334.00

$366,006.12

11,000.00

34,017.60

82,165.22

4,975.00

$54,335.13

11,000.00

2,942.41

10,011.44

From Cong. Ed. Society. . . .
Income

Tuition

Slater Fund

$359.00

Total Receipts

Expenditures

$420,233.96
439,311.91

$498,163.94
497,867.27

$77,929.98
58,555.36

Cr. Bal. on Year

$19,077.95
14,646.31

$296.67
33,724.26

Dr. Bal. on Year

Dr. Bal. on Prev. Year

Dr. Bal. September 30

$33,724.26

$33,427.59

312 AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION [1917

From the above the following increases and decreases in
receipts vnW be noted: The net increase from Churches and
affihated organizations, including Women's Societies, was
$8,686.98 — the total amount from these sources being
$158,700.80 as compared with $150,013.82 — and the total
increase from the Churches alone was $4,523.21, of which
increase $4,000.00 came from one church in New England.

Gifts from individuals increased $18,032.76, the total
amount received from this source being $87,158.03, of which
$77,561.33 has been given direct to our institutions and could
not be applied upon the annual budget of the Association.

Conditional Gifts Released were $650.02 greater than the
previous year.

The receipts from legacies have come back to normal figures,
being $106,663.96 as against $79,698.59 for the year 1915-16
and $78,969.57 for the year 1914-1915 — the years when our
present debt was acquired — the gain this past year being
$26,965.37.

Eleven thousand dollars not before received has come this
year from the C. E. S. in accordance with the agreement re-
lating to the S. W. work taken over by the A. M. A. at the
suggestion of the National Council.

The Slater Fund contributed $359 less to our schools this
past year than the year before.

Income Account shows an increase of $2,942.41, the rate of
income returns upon the book value of our endowment invest-
ments being larger than for many years. Owing to the abnor-
mal financial condition due to the World War by which the
market values of securities have been depressed far below their
intrinsic worth, and considering the increased income returns
of the book values of the securities held by the Association, it
has not seemed advisable to your Committee to attempt any
large adjustment of these values at present, and the book and
estimated values given in the Treasurer's Report remain
generally the same as reported last year.

The receipts from our scholars for Tuition are the largest
on record, being $82,165.22 (more than half as much as was
received by us for the year from all of the churches and their
affihated organizations). This was a gain of $10,011.44 over
last year's receipts and is a remarkable showing.

1917] AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION 313

According to its usual custom the Association has used upon
the current expenses of the year only one-third of the amounts
coming to it from legacies of over one thousand and under
twenty-five thousand dollars, setting aside the remaining two-
thirds in each instance to the Reserve Legacy Fund to be
used in equal parts in the two succeeding years — the amount
so set aside this year being $38,717.

The amounts now standing to the credit of Reserve Legacies
are as follows :

For current work of 1917-18 $32,541.48

For current work of 1918-19 19,358.50

The amounts received from matured Conditional Gifts are

treated in the same way and the reserve funds so accumulated

are:

For current work of 1917-18 $5,116.68

For current work of 1918-19 616.67

Again the Committee would urge the great desirability of
increasing the Conditional Gifts to the Association. Gifts
may be made in any amount and the amount so given becomes
an investment by the giver, made safe by securities owned by
the Association and by its bond, bringing to him or her or to
someone designated by the donor a sure, stated, semi-annual
income during the life of the annuitant and at the death of the
beneficiary bringing immediately into the treasury of the
Association the amount of the gift for its use, free from the
delays and uncertainties pertaining to the settlement of wills
and estates.

The total receipts for current expenses for the year including
the income from the Daniel Hand and Edwin Milman Pierce
Funds have been $576,313.44, of which amount only
$158,700.80, or about 273^% has been received from the
churches and their affiliated organizations. This compares
with about 30% during the years 1914-15 and 1915-16 and is
disappointing in view of the additional work and increased
financial obligations taken over this year by the Association
at the request of the National Council.

An analysis of the payments of $497,867.27 showing com-
parisons with the previous year is as follows:

For Missions $432,695.19, an increase of $48,782.20, of

314 AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION [1917

which $34,000 was for the new work in the South West
taken over from the Congregational Education Society —
!PubUcations $9,475.26, an increase of $2,626.09 — Agencies
$23,780.24, an increase of $1,747.42 — Administration
$27,640.31, an increase of $4,556.83 due to increases in Sec-
retarial force, in salaries paid to employees and increased
cost of supplies — Sundry Expenses, including the salary of
the Honorary Secretary, $4,276.27, an increase of $842.82.

During the year the following amounts have been received
for Endowment Funds:

Talladega College Endowment Fund $37,000.00

Henry Ward Beecher Memorial Fund for Talladega

College 14,495.36

The Dewing Endowment Fund 10,000.00

Henry W. Hubbard Endowment (additional) 1,149.43

Hannah M. Morton Endowment 500.00

Sophronia L. Stark Endowment 1,926.36

Margaret Upson Scholarship Fund 4,760.00

Mrs. R. M. Tenny Scholarship Fund (for Talladega

College ) 1,000.00

The Daniel Hand Fund (additional) 7,975.00

$78,806.15

The Daniel Hand Income Account showed a balance on hand
October 1, 1916, of $2,479.60. The income for the year has
been $71,926.08 and there has been expended $74,121.51,
leaving a balance on hand to the credit of this income account
of September 30, 1917, of $284.17.

The Edwin Milman Pierce Fund Income Account had a
credit balance Oct. 1, 1916, of $4,275.58. The income for the
year has been $6,223.42 and the amount paid out $10,368.98,
leaving a balance on hand Sept. 30, 1917, of $130.02.

The income for special objects not in current receipts was:

Income for African Missions paid to A. B. C. F .M. . $4,310.30

Income for Berea College 247.81

Income for Atlanta University 545.18

$5,103.29

The summary of receipts for the year is as follows :

Current Work $498,163.94

Daniel Hand Fund Income for Current Work 71,926.08

The Edwin Milman Pierce Fund Income for Current
Work 6,223.42

$576,313.44

1917] AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION 315

Income not in Current Receipts 5,103.29

Sundry Endowment Funds $70,831. 15

Daniel Hand Endowment Fund 7,975.00

78,806.15
$660,222.88

This grand total of receipts is the largest amount ever
received during any year by the American Missionary Associa-
tion, with the exception of the years 1888-89 and 1895-96,
when one milUon and three hundred thousand dollars were
received respectively for the Daniel Hand Fund.

The Field of Support and Advocacy

The Association has suffered great sorrow and loss in the
recent death of Secretary Charles J. Ryder, after illness during
a considerable part of the year. Secretary Ryder's connection
with the Association extended over thirty-three years. He
conducted the great campaigns of the Jubilee Singers in
England. He was successively its Southern Field Superinten-
dent, its New England Secretary, and for many years its Senior
Corresponding Secretary. Few men in its history have served
longer and none more faithfully nor more with continuous
affection and honor from his fellow-workers or with more
appreciation from the churches.

The work of Dr. Ryder's department has been most accept-
ably carried since March by the Rev. Samuel L. Loomis,
whom the Ministerial ReUef Fund kindly released for this ser-
vice. To Dr. Loomis' ability and energy, the happy financial
outcome of the year is distinctly indebted.

To its great regret, the Association was called upon in
January to accept the resignation of Rev. L. 0. Baird,
as Western Secretary, after several years of most effective and
honored service. The place was promptly and admirably
filled by the election of Rev. Frank N. White. The
opening months of Dr. White's administration have amply
justified the appointment.

The Bureau of Woman's Work acts as a medium of com-
munication between organized women in the home churches
and workers at the front, and promotes their missionary educa-
tion and giving. Letters from the mission fields are circulated,

316 AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION [l9l7

and leaflets and helps for use in women's societies and in the
various departments of the local church furnished. Itineraries
for missionary speakers are arranged and new plans for further-
ing interest in the work of the Association mapped out.

Receipts from Women's organizations show an increase over
those of last year. This extra money is almost entirely that
assigned to the new work in New Mexico and Utah, with no
increase of funds for the work which the Association has been
carrying on all through the years. Women's State Unions are
facing a perplexing problem in the readjustment of their
financial plans to the re-division of the work between the
National Societies and these difficulties are sincerely appreci-
ated by the Association. The need is for more adequate
support for work, both old and new.

The Church's Financial Response

Current receipts from Congregational churches and de-
nominational sources were $150,013 for 1915-16 and $158,700
for 1916-17, a gain of over $8,000. Four thousand dollars of
this came as the special effort of a single church and the
remainder chiefly from the transfer into the Association's
treasury of gifts of women's societies already pledged for work
in Utah and New Mexico previously conducted by the Con-
gregational Education Society. In financing the transfer of
work the Education Society also paid directly to the Associa-
tion the sum of $11,000, and the Association was reheved of
certain work in the South. But the work transferred cost
$34,000, and the net result of the transfer was an additional
burden of about $7,000 upon the treasury of the Association.
The net additional cost for the coming year will be beyond
$30,000.

Even including these exceptional receipts ~of the current
year the Association receipts from Congregational churches
^nd other denominational organizations have averaged in
recent years only about $150,000.

The dependableness of these gifts is immensely gratifying.
They are as sure as the income of an endowment. Indeed the
steady loyalty of the supporting constituency is equivalent to
an endowment of $3,000,000, and has not varied through a

1917] AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION 317

term of years more than the income on an endowment might
easily do. This is marvelous uniformity of support to come
from 6,000 churches and 800,000 members. It suggests stand-
ardized benevolence. It seems to represent rather a fixed
habit in giving than a response to current need through a
denominational effort directed to definite ends. It indicates
an unrevised sense of proportion, a loyalty of the past — very
admirable in the measure of response which it makes, less
admirable in the response it fails to make. One cannot say
that it acts like the result of a freshly vital impulse of the
Spirit of God. It is too standardized for that.

This $150,000 of Christian money — the Association's
average receipts from the denomination — may be farther
regarded from several angles.

1. It is $100,000 short of the denominational aim of
$250,000 for the A. M. A., this being the amount assigned
to it in the past by the apportionment plan, as endorsed by
the National Council. In other words the denomination is
only raising three dollars for this work out of every five
which it aims for.

2. It is only 10.8% of our current denominational total
for benevolence, whereas the denominational assignment to
the A. M. A. has been 12>^%. This was increased to 13>^%
in 1917 by the Commission on Missions, in order to meet the
burden of new work in Utah and New Mexico. The work
cannot be done unless the full percentage is provided for it.

3. It represents a poorly balanced and not truly national
distribution of denomination support, as may be seen by the
following analysis of regional sources of current receipts,
according to the figures of the last Year Book.

Total Gifts
American Missionary Association on

Apportion-
Amount Per ment Per cent, to

Districts Received cent, to Societies A.M. A.

New England $76,807 53.5 $596,289 12,9

Central (No. Atlantic) 17,436 12.1 134,045 13.

Interior (Ohio, Ind., Mich.) 10,435 7.3 109,439 9.5

Western (Cent. West'n) . . . 26,831 18.6 358,265 7.4

Pacific 10,601 7.3 108,505 9.7

Southern and all Other. .. . 1,412 1. 15,434 9.1

$143,522 $1,321,977

318 AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION [1917

It will be observed that New England is giving the Asso-
ciation more than half of its receipts from denominational
sources, and that it is giving just about proportionately.
Contrast the great Middle Western group. They are giving
not much more than one-half of the national percentage to
the A. M. A., viz., 7.4% instead of 13.5%. Yet the great
bulk of the Association's work for Indians lies within these
states. If they and all other sections were supporting the
work in the same proportion as New England, receipts would
go far toward reaching the denominational aim. That they
are not doing so is at least partly due to the frequent " mark-
ing down " of the A. M. A. percentage in state apportion-
ments. The only way in which a proper national support
can be obtained is that each state shall adopt the national
scheme of benevolent support.

4. It represents a decreasing partnership of the denomi-
nation as such in the current support of the work. Of the
total receipts of the Association, the churches and affiliated
6rganizations were giving about 30%. Increasing receipts
from other sources reduced their share in 1916-17 to 27>2%.
The chief sources of support of the Association for 1915-16 —
a typical year — are given below, the amounts being expressed
in the nearest thousands.

Gifts of churches and affiliated organizations $150,000

Income on endowment and other capital funds 105,000

Current legacies and bonds released by death 92,000

Tuition 72,0C0

Individual gifts chiefly direct to institutions 70,000

Now, it is income and tuition receipts alone which show
any large proportionate gains in recent years. It is through
them and not through increased gifts by the churches that we
have largely offset a radical decrease in currently available
legacies extending through a series of years. The dead,
through the creation of permanent funds, and poor children
paying toward their own education, have kept the work from
decline. The ratio of the gifts of the churches to the total
cost of the work is growing smaller and is sure to decline
farther unless there is a distinct advance in giving. We are
aware that some may say, " If the poor children will pay for
their own schooling, let them," but surely the living church

1917] AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION 319

presents no gallant spectacle while its partnership decreases
in a living work and its gifts make no vital response to demon-
strated needs.

We plead therefore for increased support from the control-
ling constituency of the Association.

1. We decline to consider the alternative of receiving less
support from the churches. Doubtless trying times are
ahead for us and for all missionary agencies. We believe,
however, that the " barrel of meal shall not waste, nor the
cruse of oil fail."

2. But to get just as much from the churches as in the
past — and not substantially more — what will that mean?
It will mean that all bills will ultimately be paid (since the
work is already cut to match the average receipts and the
current debt can be worked off gradually), but that no ad-
vance can be made unless on account of future excess legacies
(which are not the church's "victory"), and that the
present work must inevitably be cut on account of increased
prices for everything.

3. To get increased gifts from the churches — and ulti-
mately the full apportionment will insure.

(a) The reduction in number of institutions will be stopped.
Remember that we now report 41 schools in the South against
72 in 1896, and 10,000 pupils as against 15,000. True, we have
more teachers for 10,000 pupils than we had for 15,000 and
spend more money (a little) on 41 schools than we did on 72.
This measures qualitative gain. But the reduction of the
actual bulk of our work is serious and must not continue.
Retreat has gone far enough. Here we must stand and say
to the enemy, " You shall not pass."

(b) With the full apportionment the Association can
gradually modernize its mission plants, now worth a million
and a half of dollars but largely built according to the sani-
tary, architectural and legal requirements of a half century
ago. We have now a full-time supervising architect to give
expert attention to buildings, sanitary and engineering prob-
lems. His study of the field for a year reveals at least
$150,000 needed to put present properties in reasonably
satisfactory condition.

320 AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION [1917

a small general increase in missionaries' salaries. It has
already ventured for the coming year on a general increase for
teachers who have been in the service two full years — the
first general increase of several decades. It comes very far
short, however, of supplying a real livelihood for permanent
workers, whose living must include expenses for professional
improvement or else they progressively lose in efficiency.
The hope is to offer two more stated increases for workers
long in service — the last bringing salaries up to a reasonable
standard — also to be able to work along with churches
which will try to raise their pastors' salaries to a reasonable
minimum. When fully operative, the present increases will
cost a total of $20,000 per year. The two subsequent
increases proposed will cost perhaps $15,000 more. These
hopes will become realities if the full national apportionment
is reached.

(d) With the full apportionment, the Association can also
begin to make stated provision for aged and incapacitated
missionaries. At present, each case is sympathetically con-
sidered by itself and attended to but there is no regular
provision, no service pension. What goes to the aged sub-
tracts from the current work, and sometimes cannot but
humihate the recipient. Only ordained men are included in
the national and state relief and pension schemes. The
Association must act for the churches in the case of un-
ordained workers who have borne its commission, many of
whom have served as long and as well as our most honored
veterans of the ministry. The pension system on a participa-
tion basis will cost from ten to fifteen thousand dollars annually
and more in proportion as it succeeds in keeping workers for
hfe service. When we have done all in salary and pensions,
we shall have done the barest justice to our 600 educational
workers, and for this the Association needs new income of
$50,000 annually. Without this, it cannot improve or
even hold its present grade of workers.

(e) With the full apportionment, the scope of the Associa-
tion's work can be expanded a little. It is a spiritual tragedy
when work which should reflex;t the present demands of the
world and of the Kingdom should have to confess definitely
that no possible call can be heard for enlargement. No angel

1917] AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION 321

from heaven could make the duty of expansion seem more
imperative than the plain duty of conserving the work we
already have. New occasions teach' old duties as well as new
ones, and the old ones come first. But new occasions also
teach new duties. The Association appeals to the churches
to let it do some few new things in their behalf. They have
already imposed upon it new burdens in the transfer of im-
portant work in New Mexico and Utah. This is important,
but it adds nothing to the nation or Kingdom which was not
already. Help us, brethren, to be able to heed also some of
the calls for expansion from the Indians, from Porto Rico,
and for new Congregational churches in the South. The
U. S. Bureau of Education study of our Southern schools
suggests probabl}'^ half a million dollars' worth of new expense
which they ought to have in order to fulfill their manifest
service. We have several thousands of acres of unimproved
farm lands. Give us capital to improve them, and thus to
feed our workers and our pupils. But more than all, we have
undeveloped resources of boys and girls. We have worked
hard and dealt faithfully with your money conducting a work
of decreasing bulk. We have kept what heart we could, and
comforted ourselves with " Quality and not numbers " till
we are sick of the words. Now, we say, " By all that makes
the work worth while at all, help us to make it reach more
people. Give us a chance to grow. We are tired of trench
warfare. Give us the word to advance !"

REPORT OF CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
BUILDING SOCIETY

We are glad to report another prosperous biennium in the
history of this Society. It includes the banner year (1916),
in which the number of contributing churches (3,540) was
larger than ever before, and the amount received from all
sources ($314,697.90) exceeded that of our previous best
year.

The total receipts of the two years now reported to the
National Council have been well over half a million dollars
($573,244.61) and we have been able to help complete two
hundred and thirty-seven buildings for church use, of which
one hundred and eighty-two were houses of worship and fifty-
five were parsonages. As these buildings cost three times the
amount of our aid, they have increased the assets of our de-
nomination more than a million and a quarter of dollars.

This brings up the number of houses of worship which this
Society has helped to complete in the sixty-four years of its
work to 4,766, and the number of parsonages to 1,280. Some
of these are " second generation buildings," the earlier ones
being outgrown or so dilapidated that new ones were required.
It is a satisfaction to think of the 6,046 buildings for church
use which we have thus helped to secure. We believe it has
done much to increase the spiritual efficiency of our de-
nomination and to promote the Kingdom of God.

* A Contrast

It is interesting to compare the rising interest of our churches
in this department of service with the apathy and skepticism
that were manifest in the earlier years. When this Society
was first organized as the American Congregational Union
its declared purpose was to manifest the spiritual unity of
Congregationalists, promote fellowship among them, dis-
seminate information, provide pastors' libraries, and inci-

322

1917] CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH BUILDING SOCIETY 323

dentally to cooperate in building meeting-houses and par-
sonages. Strangely enough the proposal to give systematic
aid in church building awakened strenuous opposition in
some quarters. It was argued by some that it was unneces-
sary, because New Englanders had built their own meeting-
houses, and others might. Some said it was an uncongrega-
tional plan, since the principles of the Pilgrim polity required
each church to be independent of others. Others claimed that
it was a sectarian device and would bring oUr churches into
conflict with other denominations. To this it was replied
that the work was not sectarian, since it aimed only at pro-
tecting and caring for our own household. " Our unselfish-
ness," says a writer of that early day, " appears in preserving
and perpetuating the only denomination in the world, nine-
tenths of whose charities are given for undenominational
purposes."

Notwithstanding the importunate cry of feeble churches
in the West appealing for aid in securing shelter, the Secre-
tary wrote, five years after the Society was organized, that
" open opposition was at first encountered from a very few,
prejudice in many more, indifference not everywhere, but
alas! in too man3^"

The continued apathy in the matter of church building was
reflected in the meagre contributions of the churches. In
the third year of the Society's life the receipts amounted to
only $560.26. In the first fifteen years of this work, including
the Albany Fund and the Forefathers' Fund in addition to
the regular receipts of the Society, the amount gathered was
$349,157.81. With the exception of a single j^ear the largest
number of contributing churches was five hundred and eleven.
This is in striking contrast to the record of the last fifteen
years of the Society's work. The total amount coming to
our treasury for this work in the period beginning Jan. 1,
1902, and ending Dec. 31, 1916, has been $4,103,535.78. This is
very nearly one-half of the entire receipts of this Society since
its organization ($8,249,985.87), and the number of contribut-
ing churches last year (3,540) is seven times the number of
churches which sent their offerings for this work in the last
year of the first period of fifteen years.

This affords a gratifying proof that our churches have

324 CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH BUILDING SOCIETY [1917

waked up to the vital importance of this branch of our multi-
form task in the advancement of the cause of Christ. It is a
part of the team-work in which all our benevolent societies
are harnessed together into a mighty force to make America
more thoroughly Christian, and to evangehze the world.

Varied Sources of Income

If we were dependent, however, upon the contributions of
the churches alone for the funds with which to carry on our
part of the great denominational task, we could do but two-
fifths of the work we are now able to do because contributions
are augmented by other sources of income. If we add to the
contributions during the last two years of churches and their
affiliated societies ($143,301.01), the amounts received from
sales of abandoned properties ($26,165.55), and the repaid
grants of the biennium ($37,800.74), which were formerly
included under " contributions," but are now kept in a sepa-
rate account, we have a total of $207,267.30 available for use
in " grants " to churches.

Our rotating Loan Funds immensely increase our abihty
to assist the churches in their needs. A " grant " need not
be repaid provided the church continues as a Congregational
church, and may be retained for its use so long as it is able to
maintain its work and worship. Our two " Loan " Funds,
however, enable us to assist churches to a far greater extent
with loans which are to be repaid in regular annual or quarterly
instalments, which are then immediately available for the
aid of other churches. We received during the biennium a
considerable increase of these " Loan " Funds. The direct
contributions to the Church Loan Fund ($3,215), and to the
Parsonage Loan Fund ($17,787.51), with the legacies ($32,-
805.47), and the Conditional Gifts ($35,600), make a total of
$89,407.98 in new money for loans. In addition to this there
came back to our treasury in repayment of instalments of
Church and Parsonage Loans $226,151.26, ready for use
elsewhere. This with the new monej'- for the Loan Funds
gave us in the last two years $315,559.24 for loans.

In addition to these amounts we received $40,808.01 from
interest, and $9,610.06 from miscellaneous sources of income.
And yet we have not half enough in all our funds to meet the

1917] CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH BUILDING SOCIETY 325

pressing needs of the churches. Not a dollar less than
S170,000 of our apportionment is required for " grants " to
the young and struggling churches. Donations from churches
and their affiliated organizations were less than half that last
year. And fully $330,000 is needed for church and parsonage
" loans " each year.

Getting Together in the Church Extension Boards

The National Council at its meeting in New Haven in
1915 adopted the proposal of the Commission on Missions to
" bring together under one administration the Societies en-
gaged in Home Missions, Church Building, and Sunday School
Extension Work." This is to ensure " common policies and
common control where there is closely related work to be
done." Three Societies were therefore grouped together
under the name of the Church Extension Boards, to undertake,
in close cooperation, the work of church planting and mainte-
nance, church and parsonage building, and the organizing
and fostering of Sunday Schools. In order to avoid a loss
of revenue or diminution of work, each Society was to retain
its integrity, its separate funds, its separate apportionment,
its own column in the benevolence calendar, and its own
specialized work. This was to constitute a Federation of
Societies, each representing a particular department of ser-
vice, but all under a common direction.

Immediately after the adjournment of the Council the
Church Building Society determined to carry out the purpose
and plan of the Council at the earliest possible moment.
Certain changes in the Charter and By-Laws are' necessary
in order to make the new arrangement technically complete.
As the biennial meeting of the Society at New Haven was held
on Friday, the day before the plan of the Commission on Mis-
sions was adopted, the Society could not legally take action
on these proposed actions till the next biennial meeting in
1917. But the intent of the Council could be carried out
without delay. While some details must await the vote of
the Society at a regular and legal business meeting held at the
time of the National Council, it was quite possible to secure a
closer alignment of the Societies named within a very short
time, so that there should be common administration.

326 CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH BUILDING SOCIETY [1917

Seven members of the Board of Trustees of the Church
Building Society resigned their places in which they had
rendered long and valuable service, in order that their posi-
tions might be taken by seven members of the Executive
Committee of the Home Missionary Society. One person
happened to be a member of both Boards, so that the full
membership of fifteen was complete. Later two vacancies
on the joint Board were filled by the election of two Directors
of the Sunday School and Publishing Society.

The first meeting of this Joint Board of Direction was held
in March, 1916. Dr. Charles E. Burton was elected General
Secretary, to " have responsible executive leadership of the
entire work of the Societies thus grouped," in accordance with
the plan adopted by the National Council. Mr. Charles H.
Baker is the common Treasurer, and has methodized the
threefold financial system. In the summer the offices of
the Societies in New York were brought into closer proximity
with each other for greater convenience. We are expecting
that the action of the Society at this meeting of the National
Council will enable us to complete the coordination of these
departments of service in the Church Extension Boards.

Under the new arrangement everything is harmonious,
and the work goes forward successfully. There was always
the utmost harmony between this Society and its sister
societies, and a common administration only exhibits it more
clearly. The Congregational Church Building Society will
do its best to vindicate the wisdom of the National Council
in securing this closer alignment, and will depend upon the
churches to see to it that in conforming to their behest it
suffers no loss.

The Variety of Our Work

Newcomers upon our Board of Trustees often express
surprise at the wide extent and variety of our work. It
swings a wide circle in extent; its farthest north is within a
hundred miles of the Arctic circle, in Nome, Alaska; its
farthest south on the continent is at Key West, an after-
noon's sail from Cuba; its farthest east is in Porto Rico, some
sixteen hundred miles into the Atlantic from our nearest
shore; its farthest west is in beautiful Hawaii, a Pacific way-

1917] CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH BUILDING SOCIETY 327

station more than two thousand miles from San Francisco.
Within these hmits we have paid appropriations to fifty-two
states and territories. While the National Home Missionary
Society is relieved of the direct care of churches in nineteen
constituent states, and the special work of the American
Missionary Association is called for in a limited area, our work
is in every state in the Union save two — Delaware and
Mississippi.

The variety of the work is as striking as its wide reach.
While the gathering and disbursing of the needed funds is an
important part of it, it is after all but a moderate part of the
total work. Every grant and loan paid out must be carefully
protected to the denomination to increase its power for world-
wide service. There are mortgages to be secured and in-
surance on buildings to be obtained. Loans must be repaid
in regular instalments that other churches may be helped.
Funds must be built up to meet the increasing demands.
Some churches, after years of useful work, have to give up
the struggle and disband; out of the proceeds of sale the
money we put into them must be recovered for use elsewhere.
There are plans to be inspected for approval and changes to
be made in some cases. There are debts under which churches
are staggering which must be cleared away. There are slack
business methods in some churches which they must be helped
to change that they may do the Lord's business efficiently and
successfully.

Nearly every kind of financial difiiculty in which a church
may become involved is sooner or later put up to the Church
Building Society for its advice or assistance. As the Society
which has to do specifically with the business and property
interests of the denomination, it is not only a missionary
society, but it is on one side of it a business organization.
Its importance in our denominational life may be seen in the
fact that the property value of our Congregational churches is
reported in the last Year-Book as more than ninety-two and a
quarter million dollars; and in the last fifteen years more
than ten millions of this amount have been added to the assets
of the denomination, having been made possible by the grants
and loans of this Society which were about one-third the cost
of the new properties.

328 congregational church building society [1917

Our Field Service

Aside from the administrative and publicity work at head-
quarters, this varied service to the churches is in large measure
through Secretaries in the field whose experience and expert
skill have rendered invaluable help. There are churches in
our fellowship carrying total debts of four and a half milHon
dollars. These cripple and burden the churches exceedingly
and greatly hinder their growth and retard their work. The
annual interest charge on these debts is considerably more
than $200,000, which if added to the benevolence offerings of
the churches would help mightily toward reaching the goal
of our apportionment. Our Church Efficiency Secretary,
Dr. Newell, has for his special work the raising of such debts,
giving deliverance to the burdened churches. He has already
swept away debts amounting to more than three-quarters of a
milhon dollars and is ready to assist other churches which
are trying with difficulty to run the race when their feet are
fettered with a ball and chain.

Our three Field Secretaries, Drs. Leete and Sanderson and
Mr. Wikoff, have also rendered similar service, but they have
many other lines of effort; stirring up the churches to remem-
ber the offering for this special work; visiting churches and
associations and conferences, to tell the story of the need;
visiting churches which are planning to build, to give sugges-
tions and assistance; visiting churches in financial trouble, to
show the way out; visiting individuals who are interested,
to confer with them regarding legacies and conditional gifts;
interviewing the homeless minister who needs a parsonage;
keeping in touch with churches which are to send us regularly
and promptly instalments in repayment of loans; explaining
to inquirers the conditions of our aid, and our methods of.
action; looking after abandoned churches and their sale;
advising the home office of the many and serious problems
which arise in their respective fields. Our Assistant Field
Secretary, Mrs. Taintor, keeps in close touch with a multitude
of generous men and women and churches especially interested
in seeing that our ministers have good houses, and because of
her efforts they send thousands of dollars to our Parsonage
Fund each year. The growth of our work owes much to this
small but expert corps of field-workers.

1917] congregational church building society 329

Church Architecture

We have repeatedly urged upon the churches the impor-
tance of making their houses of worship beautiful as well as
convenient. One finds in all denominations many church
buildings singularly devoid of beauty. Some of them are
hideous. Some are built with a strange disregard of archi-
tectural principles. Some represent the fads and foibles of
an architectural freak whose riotous imagination has carried
him away from a true conception of the house of God. Some
are plain wooden boxes, without pretense of symmetry, and
often with unsightly additions. Cheap and tawdry would be
a fit description of some churches; costly but ugly, would
apply to others.

Our denomination has not sinned more deeply nor suffered
more heavily than others in this disregard of beauty, but we
have too many buildings open to severe criticism. On the
other hand, we have a large number of very beautiful houses of
worship, and our forbears more than two centuries ago intro-
duced into this country a style of church building of singular
charm. The Colonial or Georgian churches, together with
several other good styles of architecture seen in some of our
best ecclesiastical buildings, afford good examples which may
be a guide to improvement in this matter.

Our Board of Trustees has taken up this problem with new
interest of late. They hope to better conditions by taking
care not to put the money of this Society into unworthy
buildings. It may stimulate churches to make sure that their
proposed new houses of worship are in good taste, churchly,
attractive and architecturally correct, if they know that other-
wise they may not receive help. The Board of Trustees has
therefore recentl}'^ adopted a resolution requesting each church
seeking the aid of this Society to send the plans of its pro-
posed new building to us for inspection and approval. This
does not mean that a stereotyped stjde will be required of all,
leaving no room for differing needs and tastes, but it will safe-
guard us considerably from the peril of increasing the number
of unsightly buildings.

Probably this will require before long the issuing of a
pamphlet of plans of different but commendable architectural
styles. We had such a booklet some years ago which did good

330 CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH BUILDING SOCIETY [1917

service, but it provided only for churches costing from $1,000
to $5,000, and at length went out of print. A new book of
plans, to meet modern needs, should give sketches and
specifications for churches costing from $1,500 to $50,000,
or even more.

Inquiry has recently been made of the other leading de-
nominations as to what the situation is with them. Some
twenty have made response, and nearly all are just where we
are — feeling the need, but having as yet no clear and satis-
factory method of meeting it. Some are going resolutely at
the task. All are exceedingly interested in it. It may be
that out of this common and growing interest some interde-
nominational plan iAay be evolved, in which all will engage for
the common benefit of Protestant churches of every name.
It may result in bringing together for comparison the best
specimens of the Colonial, Romanesque and Gothic styles,
examples of the Greek Temple and Old Spanish Mission
buildings and modern composite types, which have been
favorites in different parts of the country.

Progress is being made in this matter, and we may hope that
the time is approaching when all our Congregational churches
shall find their spiritual homes full of charm, when every line
and feature of the holy temple shall tend to lift men's thoughts
heavenward, and when all can say, " Strength and beauty
are in His sanctuary."

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OF THE CONGREGATIONAL

EDUCATION SOCIETY

The Board of Directors of the Congregational Education
Society herewith presents the One Hundred and First Annual
Report.

On December 7, 1916, this Society was 100 years old. The
occasion was celebrated in many churches of our faith. Appro-
priate literature, summarizing the work of the Society, was
prepared and freely distributed. The record of the century
indicates a much larger service than many of our constituencj^
have realized. The men and the institutions aided have
played and are plajdng a large part in our Congregational
Ufe.

It is altogether fitting that this 100th milestone should be,
not only a celebration of past achievement, but the beginning
of new lines of service of significant character.

During the two years since the National Council voted at
New Haven that the Society should transfer the schools it
owned and operated to the A. M. A., this transfer has been
entirely accomplished.

In place of the work thus given over the Education Society
has taken on the Foreign Institute work in Chicago and Red-
field, South Dakota, from the C. H. M. S., Schaufller Mission-
ary Training School, Cleveland, Atlanta Theological Semi-
nary, Rollins College, the Social Service work of the denomi-
nation, the program for recruiting Christian leaders of all
kinds, together with a more adequate Student Life program.
A secretary to give his entire time to student work, and a
Department of Missionary Education, with a secretary in
charge, are to be added just as soon as the churches, through
their gifts, make it possible.

With this greatly enlarged work is to be coordinated all the
Religious Education work carried on by the C. S. S. & P. S.
and The Pilgrim Press, this work being under one Board of

331

332 CONGREGATIONAL EDUCATION SOCIETY [1917

Directors and one general secretary. Part of the money re-
leased by the transfer of schools to the A. M. A. is to be used
for the support of our District Religious Education Secretaries.

Student Aid

The total number of students aided during the year was
154. Of these 119 were in Theological Seminaries, Bible
Training Schools and Theological Departments of Colleges.

Thirty-three were students in thirteen colleges.

The Ward Fund, from which is derived a few scholarships,
is for the benefit of " Christian young men seeking an educa-
tion."

Three women received aid.

It is optional with the student whether he shall receive the
scholarship as a grant or as a loan. Twelve of the entire
number chose to regard it as a loan.

It is worth noticing that 55 of the Seminary students were
college or state university graduates, or about 47 per cent.
The number of state university graduates was 11. The num-
ber of foreign students — about 30 in all, Germans, Swedes,
Finns, Chinese, Japanese, Negroes, Norwegians, Greeks, Slavs
and Armenians.

The scholarship is S50 a year, payable in two instalments of
$25 each, in April and December.

There are various opinions among the Directors as to the
disposition of student aid. A suggestion has been made that
it should be confined to theological students only, for the
reason that a man does not begin his study for the ministry
until he reaches the professional school.

Another suggestion is that a broader interpretation should
be given to the word " ministry " so as to include all persons,
male and female, who are fitting themselves for the various
forms of religious service, as for instance: missions, teaching,
settlement work. When the Society was organized the word
" ministry " had a definite and restricted meaning.

The Directors believe that by far the largest part of the aid
given is worthily bestowed, and the return given in the Lves
and service of thousands of pastors, teachers and missionaries
constitute an investment of inestimable value to the Christian
Church.

1917] congregational education society 333

Summaries

Students in Colleges 33

Students in Theological Seminaries and Train-
ing Schools 119

152

Loans 12

Congregationalists 139

Women 3

State University Graduates 11

College Graduates 44

Ward Scholarships 2

Total Scholarships 154

Work Among Students in State Universities

Outside of New England and New York, over half the
students from Congregational homes are attending State
Universities and Colleges of Agriculture. The growth of these
institutions has been most remarkable, and the end is not yet.
Every imaginable equipment for a remarkably varied train-
ing is supplied, except equipment intended to induce the
Christian hfe, which latter is by far the most potent factor in
making real men and women.

Christian Associations and local churches have not proved
adequate to the task and opportunity afforded by the presence
of so many of our choice young people in these schools. These
agencies need the support of the denominations in state and
nation. Thus, the local church, the state conference and the
Education Society are cooperating in the strategic University
Pastorate movement. Through this movement we are placing
well trained leaders in the largest of these universities. These
men are the friends and helpers of our Congregational young
people, organizing them for religious training and service,
connecting them with the local church and fitting them to
come back to their home churches and take a large share in
the work.

Workers have been maintained the past year in the follow-
ing schools: California State University, Illinois S. U., Iowa
S. U., Iowa Agricultural College, Kansas S. U., Kansas Agrir

334 CONGREGATIONAL EDUCATION SOCIETY [1917

cultural College, Leland Stanford University, Michigan S. U.,
Michigan State Teachers' College, Washington State Agri-
cultural College, Wisconsin S. U.

There are no other places where, at so small expense, we
can reach so large a number of our students. The results of
this work are gratifying. Large numbers of these students
unite with the local church, the membership to continue only
while the student is in school. In one university center 145
were thus received into membership last year. Large num-
bers are enrolled in the Bible Schools of the local churches.
Students' organizations and Young Peoples Societies give
large opportunity for organized Christian effort. Most en-
couraging of all is the growing number of Christian workers
coming from these centers.

College Student Life

The time was when this Society confined its work in col-
leges to financial aid. That is true no longer. Distinct
efforts to cooperate with colleges in shaping the religious life
of students now have an important place. Two colleges have
been aided in the support of men who gave much time and
thought to the religious needs of the students in their respec-
tive institutions.

The most important piece of cooperative work is the visit
to a considerable group of schools of denominational leaders
who aid the schools in special services intended to secure
committment to Christ and to Christian service. President
Ozora S. Davis, Secretaries D. Brewer Eddy, H. A. Atkinson,
F. M. Sheldon aided in this work during the year. Twelve
colleges were visited and approximately three days were
spent in each place. The colleges entered into the work in
the most hearty manner possible. The large number of per-
sonal interviews, the evidences of decision for the Christ life
and for service, together with the general desire for similar
meetings in the future, indicate something of the value of this
work.

It is confidently expected that the response of the churches
will make it possible to have a Student Life Secretary, giving
all his time to this work, before another annual report is
presented.

1917] congregational education society 335

Christian Leadership Recruits

Closely connected with the Student Life work is the cam-
paign to increase the number of candidates for the ministry,
missionary and other forms of Christian Service. A few
people think there is no dearth of leaders, but let them try
to find a suitable leader for mission fields, and for churches,
and they will soon understand. The American Board is com-
pelled to draw half its missionaries from other denominations.
Over half the men being ordained in Home Mission churches
have neither college nor seminary training. Almost half of
the leaders of our stronger self-supporting churches come from
other churches and yet the supply of strong men is inade-
quate.

The names of approximately 9,000 Congregational men and
women in our colleges have been secured, and these have
received a letter together with folders on life-work, and on the
Tercentenary program.

During the year, two special letters have been sent to some
875 promising High School boys.

A leaflet bringing this matter squarely before our pastors
has been prepared. This leaflet, together with a sample
leaflet, for parents, to be distributed in churches, was sent to
all our ministers. Our only way of reaching the parents is
through the pastors, but not a great number of them were
willing to see that this leaflet was put into the hands of their
people.

Social Service

One of the most difficult problems that the Department
has to face is occasioned by the multiplicity of interests that
press upon it. These special subjects fall within its care:
Men's Work, Industry, Rural Life, Organized Charity, Social
Purity and the Work for the Welfare of Enlisted Men in the
Army and NavJ^ So many things have demanded attention
in the various fields, and all of them so vitally significant, that
it has been difficult at times to know just how to preserve a
due proportion between interests and to keep the whole within
feasible bounds.

336 congregational education society [1917

Program

The following is the outline of this Department. It con-
ceives its functions to be:

To make known the social principles of Christianity.

To arouse the spirit of social service in our churches.

To secure the cooperation of the churches with all other
agencies doing social service work.

To outline programs for churches in their Vv^ork for com-
munity betterment.

To interpret the gospel of Jesus Christ and the new purpose
of the church to industrial workers.

To represent the denomination in official capacity at
meetings where labor and social subjects are discussed.

To study and give leadership within the denomination for
service in bettering the rural conditions and making more
effective the ministry of our country churches.

To study the social waste caused by vice, crime and bad
economic conditions, and to develop programs for meeting
these needs.

To organize, develop, unify and inspire the masculine
forces of the denomination. This is to be done by providing
leaders, voluntary and executive, as far as possible throughout
the nation, to serve the men and boys of the churches and
commxunities. The men's organization in the local church
is recognized as the unit of value in the national movement.
The work of the local organization to be made strong and
effective as a part of the regular program of the local church.

Secretarial Visitation

The Secretary has responded to calls for addresses and con-
ferences to the limit of his time and ability to meet engage-
ments. Definite campaigns have been conducted in several
cities. The Department has cooperated actively with the
Tercentenary Commission, the Home Missionary Society,
the American Missionary Association, and with the other
departments of the Education Society.

Investigation into industrial and social situations and
S3veral surveys have been made. The Department has pro-
duced a large amount of literature touching the various fields
of activity and interest.

1917] congregational education society 337

Colleges and Academies

The Society has continued its work of befriending colleges
and academies with timely aid until such period in their de-
velopment as they shall be able to do without our assistance.
The general attitude of people toward the development of
some of our schools in the Middle West, which are not yet
adequately financed, together with pressure due to the War,
are placing an exceedingly heavy burden on a number of
these schools. It is not the poUcy of the Society to start new
colleges, but those which the Society is aiding should be placed
on a firm foundation with adequate endowment.

The simple fact that an undue proportion of our Christian
leaders come from these small colleges and academies is in
itself sufficient warrant for special effort being made to
strengthen them and make their work permanent. If friends
will make special effort to aid these institutions until the close
of the War, a few years will then see them thoroughly estab-
lished.

The academies which we are aiding are all in strategic
locations where high school facihties are not adequate, and
where they are rendering a large service in the field of dis-
tinctly Christian Education. The Society is at present aiding
Fairmount, Kingfisher, Northland and Rollins Colleges by
direct grant, and Redfield, Doane, Olivet, Pacific University,
Tabor and Fargo by applying on church apportionment,
within the state in which the institution is located, a portion
of the Society's contributions.

The academies being aided are Benzonia in Michigan,
Endeavor, Wisconsin, Franklin, Nebraska, Iberia and Kidder,
Missouri, Thrall and Ward, South Dakota.

Training Schools
In addition to the regular colleges and academies, the
Society is now giving aid to the Schauffler Missionary Train-
ing School, Cleveland, Ohio, the Training School for Women
in Chicago, Illinois, Atlanta Theological Seminary, Atlanta,
Georgia, the Foreign Institutes connected with Chicago
Theological Seminary in Chicago and the German Institute
at Redfield, South Dakota. These institutions have a large
place in training the leadership of which our churches are in

338 CONGREGATIONAL EDUCATION SOCIETY [1917

urgent need. The emphasis of the Schauffler School is upon
training young women for work among our great number of
foreign-speaking people; the work of the Training School for
Women is practically training pastors' assistants, parish
secretaries and directors of religious education; Atlanta
Seminary is developing leaders for our growing work in the
Southland; while the Foreign Institutes in Chicago and Red-
field are equipping ministers to lead these foreign peoples in
the work of the kingdom.

The Program of the Federated Societies

The program of the reorganized Religious Education
Boards is to permeate our entire denominational life with an
adequate and compelling Religious Education ideal, and to
develop a comprehensive, unified Religious Education pro-
gram in home, church and school; a program intended to
train all our church people as workers and to raise up and
train a selected group as leaders; a program back of which
the entire church will put her best effort in the consciousness
that her larger service depends upon her own vigor and
efficiency.

First, the actual organization for doing this work will be a
Board of Religious Education, which shall survey the entire
field to ascertain actual conditions and plan what is necessary
to meet ,the needs.

Second, a Sunday School Publication Department, which
will edit the courses for the school, for teacher training, all
helps and all literature and books having to do with the
Rehgious Education problem in the Church School. This will
include Missionary Social Service and other material in so
far as they wish to reach the Church School constituency.

Third, a Missionary Education Department, which will
provide material for and in every way promote education in
missions as a life attitude and supply needed information
regarding our work as carried on by all our Societies.

Fourth, a Social Service Department, which shall lead in
training our people to express the spirit of Christ in all fife
relations.

Fifth, a Student-Life Department, which shall do its utmost
to assist in the rehgious education of our students, seek to

1917] CONGREGATIONAL EDUCATION SOCIETY 339

find suitable recruits for Christian leadership and give aid to
ministerial students.

Sixth, a General Publications Department, which shall edit
all general books.

Seventh, The Congregationalist Department will edit and
pubhsh the paper, which is of increasing service in the entire
field of Religious Education.

Eighth, the Business Department, which shall have charge
of the business affairs of the Boards, including the manu-
facture of material at the printing plant and its distribution
through our bookstores in Boston and Chicago.

In addition to the men who work in these departments at
and from headquarters, there will be certain field experts in
Religious Education, who will represent all phases of the work.

The organization for doing this work is one Board of Direc-
tors which has charge of the work under the Congregational
Education Society and the Congregational Sunday School and
Publishing Society, together with the secretaries and the
managers of the various departments and the field workers.

The program demands constant and careful study and
survey of the entire field of religious education to ascertain
actual conditions, provide suitable materials and develop
plans intended to meet the needs. As the growing program
is clearly discerned, it will be necessary to edit and publish
such material as is necessary to make the program effective
among our church people. With suitable material provided
it will be the task of the secretaries and field workers to bring
the program to the churches for their adoption and aid them
in carrying it out.

The paramount object of the joint Societies is Religious
Education. While the printing plant and the bookstores are
operated on a sound business basis, they are operated to
advance the interests of Religious Education rather than for
the sake of doing business.

The years since the last National Council have seen a good
deal of readjustment in all fines of the work; there is still
considerable to be done before the. entire organization will be
welded into a unified whole and be adequate to the large task
which the denomination is asking the Societies to accomplish.

REPORT OF CONGREGATIONAL SUNDAY
SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY

During the two years since the meeting of the National
Council in New Haven, this Society has given considerable
time and attention to the reorganization of its work in accor-
dance with the suggestions of the Commission on Missions
adopted by the Council at its last meeting. The first task
was to unite under a joint administration the Congregational
Education Society and this Society. Provision was made
for the creation of a jo'nt hoard of director?, and after a careful
survey of the needs of the situation, Rev. F. M. Sheldon,
formerly Secretarj^ of the Congregational Education Society,
was elected to serve as General Secretary of the two societies.
In addition to the study of problems which concern the
Society as a whole, it will be seen from the following depart-
mental statements that progress has been made in nearly
every department.

The second important task committed to the Society was
the transfer of a part of the work formerly done by the Mis-
sionary and Extension Department to the " Church Exten-
sion Group " in New York. The Board of Directors has
given much time to the consideration of this question, but as
yet has been unable to arrive at any settlement which seemed
satisfactory to all parties concerned. It is hoped that more
light may be thrown on this situation at this meeting of the
Council.

The work of the Education Department — perhaps better
termed " The Department of Field Work " if *' Congregational
Board of Education " is to designate the joint endeavors of
the Congregational Education Society and the Congregational
Sunday School and Publishing Society — has consisted mostly
in answering correspondence and conferring with office callers,
cooperating with other departments, and planning for future
needs as far as this was considered wise iij view of the un-
settled conditions of the Society.

340

1917] SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY 341

Perhaps one of the most important fruits of the work of the
Department of Educational PubHcations has been the appear-
ance of the first year's book of the new Pilgrim Training Course
for teachers. An interesting series of books by Mr. Albert E.
Bailey, deahng with religious art, has also been pubhshed, and
a bibhcal drama, especially appropriate for use during this
national crisis, by Eleanor Wood Whitman. Much time has
also been given to the revisions of the International Graded
Lessons. " The Pilgrim Hymnal " and " Worship and Song "
are being used by a steadily increasing number of schools.

The Co7igregationalist is continuing its splendid service,
and the editors are showing commendable effort toward
reduction of expense, while at the same time maintaining the
full efficiency of the paper.

The business department reports two profitable years in
spite of the disturbances and uncertainties of the business
world. Conservatism has marked all its varied operations,
as a study of the report of this department will prove.

The Boston bookstore has increased its sales and is giving
increased satisfaction to our customers.

All the above interests are supervised by the General
Secretary. The scope of the work of the District Secretaries
has also been enlarged so that they, too, represent all the
departments of the Society. The districts are as follows: —
Rev. A. W. Bailey, 14 Beacon Street, Boston: New England.
Rev. M. S. Littlefield, D.D., 287 Fourth Ave., New York

City: New York District.
Rev. C. L. Fisk, 1229 Schofield Bldg., Cleveland, Ohio: Ohio

District.
Rev. R. W. Gammon, D.D., 19 West Jackson Street, Chicago,

111.: Interior.
Rev. J. P. O'Brien, D.D., 4128 Campbell St., Kansas City,

Mo.: South and Southwest.
Rev. M. B. Fisher, D.D., 417 Market St., San Francisco,

Calif. : Pacific Coast.

342 sunday school and publishing society [1917

Department of Field Work

(Continuing)
The Educational Department

Aims of the Department

1. To study the entire field of religious education to
ascertain actual conditions.

2. To set forth the aims to be realized in the local
church through education.

3. To arouse the churches to a realization of their
responsibility for the accomplishment of these aims.

4. To suggest programs of education for the local
church, and for the churches in their associated ca-
pacity; also, materials needed for such programs, in-
cluding courses of study for teachers and students in
the church school, plans for training in worship and
service.

5. To cooperate with the churches in developing
their local resources for education.

6. To cooperate with colleges and other agencies in
providing a trained leadership for the educational work
of the churches.

7. To promote the coordination of educational
agencies within the church and in the world at large.

8. To inspire' a favorable public opinion by showing
the vital relation between religious education and
national and world progress.

The above aims will give an idea of the scope of this de-
partment's work, which in spite of the curtailment of resources
was furthered in every possible way during the first few
months of the period covered by this report. In September,
1915, Dr. B. S. Winchester resigned his position as Editor
and Educational Secretary to accept a Professorship in the
Yale School of Religion. Although all who had been associated
with Dr. Winchester rejoiced with him in this larger oppor-
tunity, everyone felt a distinct personal loss, and the dis-
continuance of his educational leadership was a serious mis-
fortune to the progress of our denominational work. In
September, 1916, Rev. F. M. Sheldon, who had been made
General Secretary of the Congregational Education Society

1917] SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY 343

and the Congregational Sunday School and Publishing Society
in March of the same year, was elected Acting Educational
Secretary. It has been practically impossible, however, to
undertake any progressive work during the reorganization of
the national societies. The reports of the National Council
Commission on Rehgious and Moral Education have been
especially valuable to the churches during this period.

Assistance has also been given through correspondence and
office conferences regarding all phases of the work. Among
the questions taken up in this way are those connected with
the organization of the church's educational work — the
work of the Church Committee on Religious Education, the
work of the Director of Religious Education, Church-school
Standards, courses of study and plans of curriculum, pro-
motion requirements, children's and young people's worship,
children's church, church-school hymnals, missionary in-
struction, young people's problems, training of teachers and
courses for the same, the teachers' library, church-school
architecture, week-day instruction in religion, the home and
the church-school, and the coordination of the expressional
activities with the work of instruction. One hundred and
nineteen teacher-training classes are now enrolled, and about
three hundred examination papers have been corrected
during the last year. Teacher-training plans have been
developed in harmony with the agreement outlined by the
Sunday School Council and the International Sunday School
Association. A course of 120 lessons, arranged in three years,
of forty lessons each, is to take the place of all former first and
advanced standard courses. The authors of the first year
book are Professor L. A. Weigle, Professor B. S. Winchester,
and Professor W. S. Athearn.

The arousing of public opinion and the further develop-
ment of local resources has been the work of the General
Secretary and the District Secretaries. They have responded
to calls from individual churches, district institutes and
conferences, state associations and conventions.

Cooperation has continued, as in former years, with the
Missionary and Extension Department through communi-
cations and Uterature sent to field representatives, and with
the Department of Educational Publications through con-

344 SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY [1917

tributions to the Pilgrim Teacher, the planning of the book
of the new Pilgrim Training Course, and the preparation of
Orders of Worship and several leaflet pubUcations. The co-
operation of the other departments has also been appreciated.
It is hoped that the exhibit of text and reference books,
pictures for use in religious education, models and materials
for hand work, etc., may be made much more complete during
the next two years. All plans for future work, however, have
had to be held in abeyance until the reorganization of the
Society might be completed. With the responsibility for our
educational work vested in the new Congregational Board of
Rehgious Education (Congregational Education Society and
the Sunday School and Publishing Society) a department
under the name " Education Department " would seem un-
necessary. The need for the work outlined here will continue,
however, and the suggestion -has been made that this work
be carried on by a department, coordinate with the other
departments of the Congregational Board of Religious Edu-
cation, to be called the Department of Field Work. The
arrangement for the financial support of this department has
not as yet been determined. Whatever decisions are reached
regarding these questions, however, we are confident that the
denomination will provide in some way for the planning and
financing of this work, which is readily acknowledged to be
the first step toward our progress as a denomination and as
an active force in Christianizing the world.

Department of Educational Publications
In accordance with the action of the Board of Directors this
department has been responsible for the publication of all
material of a religious educational character, including lesson
helps, young people's papers, lesson courses and other material
of this character, whether in periodical or text book form.
This has meant the broadening of the scope of the department
and its organization, with a view to carrying out this com-
prehensive policy of the Board. It has been the pohcy of this
department to keep the overhead expenses down to the lowest
amount consistent with the highest efficiency. This means
that the permanent office force is small and that the editor
have sought from specialists the distinctive service of each

1917] SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY 345

without attaching them to the department. At present the
editorial force is as follows: M. H. Hazard, Editor Emeritus;
Sidney A. Weston, Editor; Margaret Slattery, Frances Weld
Danielson, Dorothy B. Swift, Joyce C. Manuel, Eleanor F.
Cole, Milton S. Littlefield. Regular contributors on salary
for the special work they do are: — E. Morris Fergusson, the
writer of the Senior Quarterly; Prof. G. Walter Fiske, writer
of the Intermediate Quarterly and a section for the teachers
of Intermediate classes in the Pilgrim Teacher; Mrs. Anna
Burnham Bryant, writer of the Junior Quarterly, and a
section of the Pilgrim Teicher; Miss Florence Darnell,
writer of a section for teachers of girls in the Pilgrim Teacher;
Rev. E. H. Byington, who prepares the Points of Contact
for the lessons in the Pilgrim Teacher; and Dr. Albert E.
Dunning, who writes the Lesson Exposition in the Pilgrim
Teacher.

The department has published the regular Uniform Lesson
Helps as usual, the Graded Lessons, the Pilgrim Teacher,
The Wellspring, The Mayflower, Boyland and Firelight. The
last course in the Graded Lesson series was published this last
year under the title " The Bible and Social Living."

In addition to the lesson material this department has
published six Educational Leaflets and seven Services for
special days in the Sunday School. It has also published the
following books:

Christian Certainties, Brown and Perdriau

Monday Club Sermons

Art Studies in the Life of Christ, Albert E. Bailey

Art Studies in the Life of Christ, Teacher's Manual,

Albert E. Bailey
The Bible in our Modern World, F. M. Sheldon
The Drama of Isaiah Eleanor Wood Whitman
The Pilgrim Course for Teachers, Weigle, Winchester,

Athearn
Revision of Stories and Story -telling , E. P. St. John
Religious Education and American Democracy, W. S.

Athearn
The Seven Laws of Teaching, John M. Gregory, revised

by W. C. Bagley

346 SUNDAY feCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY [1917

The total circulation of our lesson helps and papers is now
at the highest point of which we have any record. The Uni-
form Lessons show a gradual falling off year by year and are
now at the lowest point of which we have any record, while
the Graded material is now at the highest point in its record.
The Graded Lesson circulation now represents- two-fifths of
our lesson material circulation. In the Uniform Lesson
material the heaviest losses are in the Junior and Intermediate
Departments, while the Graded material has gained in the
Elementary Departments enough to more than offset the
loss in the Uniform ma-terial. The Adult and Home Depart-
ment Magazines show a decided gain in circulation.

With the approval of the Board of Directors the Depart-
ment is now issuing two specialized magazines in the place
of the Pilgrim Teacher. One is called The Pilgrim Ele-
mentary Teacher and is planned especially for the Elemen-
tary Grades. For the upper grades The Pilgrim Magazine
is issued. In The Elementary Teacher it is planned to
publish no material for the Uniform Lessons, as in these
departments the circulation is negligible, at least in the
Beginners' and Primary departments of the magazine. Miss
Frances W. Danielson is responsible for this section of the
magazine. Miss Manuel of the office force will have special
direction of the Junior section, assisted by Miss Edith Glen,
a Junior Speciahst of New York City, and a corps of other
well-known writers in that field. The Pilgrim Magazine
will have sixteen pages of matter of interest to the whole
school, six pages of special material for the Intermediate and
Senior Departments, ten pages of notes on the Graded Third
and Fourth Year Intermediate Lessons, and thirty pages each
month on the Uniform Lessons, with a strong and compre-
hensive treatment of each lesson. The articles in this maga-
zine will be such as will appeal to the best educators in the
country and also articles so popular and concrete in character
that the everyday worker in the church-school will be inter-
ested and helped by them.

In January, 1918, the so-called Improved Uniform or De-
partmental Uniform Lessons will begin. Our Uniform lesson
helps are planned to meet this change with special help for
each department. The publication of the new Home Depart-

1917] SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY 347

merit Visitor's Leaflet was begun in July of this year, prepared
by Miss Katharine C. Bourne, who is Home Department
worker for the Massachusetts State Sunday School Associa-
tion.

The Graded Lesson revision will be completed within the
present fiscal year. This will give us a much stronger series
of lessons in the Beginners', Primary, Junior and Intermediate
Departments.

Just as the year 1909, when the Graded Lessons were intro-
duced, marked a new epoch in the field of religious education,
so this year is another turning-point which calls for a large
vision and careful study of the future, together with a pro-
gressive spirit and constructive policy. We are in the midst
of war, and therefore it is even more important that the
religious training of our children and young people be main-
tained at the highest efficiency. This means that the Editorial
Department must prepare and publish material that will
meet their needs in each stage of their development, so that
the next generation of men and women will live nearer the
Christ ideal in all their relations with God and their fellow
men.

The Congregationalist and Christian World

The two years since the affairs of The Congregationalist
were last brought to the attention of the National Council have
constituted one of the most trying periods in the history of
American journalism. Papers with an established reputation
and with a long and honorable history have been discontinued
or merged with other journals. In the case of papers which
have weathered the storm the shortage of white paper and its
consequent increase in price, together with the steady rise of
other manufacturing costs, have compelled many readjust-
ments. In common with many religious journals The Congre-
gationalist has felt the strain of these testing years, but it has
reason for gratitude that its constituency has stood by it so
loyally and that it has been enabled to maintain its traditional
literary standards. The subscription list is only a very little
smaller than two years ago. The regular weekly edition is in
the vicinity of 18,000 copies, and there is good reason to
believe, in view of the large number of papers forwarded

348 SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY [1917

regularly to other persons by subscribers after their own
reading of it, that The Congregationalist goes each week into
at least 20,000 homes, covering all the States of the Union
and thirty-two foreign lands. The advertising patronage of
the paper continues to be gratifying, considering all the ad-
verse influences bearing on religious journals. The financial
returns have not been materially lessened by the rejection
of certain advertisements like Coca Cola and Hood's Sarsa-
parilla, which in preceding years netted the paper annually
hundreds of dollars.

It could hardly be expected, however, by any one at all
familiar with present -conditions in the field of religious
journalism that a paper of the character of The Congrega-
tionalist could be conducted, especially during the years of a
world war, without deficit. But the size of the difference
between the receipts and income during the biennium under
consideration is not of alarming proportions. It amounts to
about $11,000 for the two years, or an average deficit of
about $5,500. The directors of the Society have believed that
this was an entirely justifiable object to which to devote a
portion of the profits and that the denomination, as a whole,
would endorse this appropriation rather than permit any
deterioration in the quality of The Congregationalist itself or
any increase of subscription price, after the example
of a number of high-class journals, or any reliance for revenue
on advertisements of a questionable nature. It is beheved
that the deficit, all things considered, is not in excess of the
deficits incurred by other first-class religious journals and
that it is less than that of several of them. Moreover, if The
Congregationalist is the representative spokesman of Congre-
gational opinion, if its weekly visit to thousands of churches
and homes helps to bind together our scattered fellowship
and to infuse into it common aims and a common spirit, the
expense involved would seem to be shght in comparison with
the total amount expended yearly by the accredited Congre-
gational agencies for denominational up-keep and propaganda.

At the same time the directors would emphasize the im-
portance of the most economical administration of the paper
possible, consistent with maintaining its serviceability to the
denomination. It is also the conviction of the directors that

1917] SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY 349

if all the churches, east and west, supported The Congrega-
tionalist as largely as do a certain proportion, both east and
west — whose names ought to be on a roll of honor — The
Congregaiionalist would not only show a balance each year
on the right side of the ledger, but would be a money-maker
for the denomination. In this connection it is encouraging to
note the increase of circulation during the last years in western
states. In no less than fifteen of them from Illinois to Wash-
ington the list of subscribers is larger than a year ago.

The biennium under review includes the period set apart
for the observance of the centennial of the paper. The event
seemed to demonstrate anew the hold of the paper upon the
affections of its friends in all parts of the country and the
world; no less than 649 names reached the editorial office of
families in which the paper had been a weekly visitor for from
forty to ninety years. During this period, also, The Congre-
gational Fund for War Rehef was started, which has resulted
in raising over $25,000 for sufferers in all war-ravaged lands.

Among the other achievements of this biennial period have
been the presentation each week of articles by writers of
distinction, who have sustained the high reputation of the
paper in this regard, the strengthening and extension of the
Church News Department, constant cooperation with the
National Council in describing and promoting the Tercen-
tenary Campaign, the issuing at regular intervals of four to
eight pages devoted to a careful appraisal of new books, the
furnishing of varied material of interest and value to young
and old in the home circle, and the special pages that bear
upon the cultivation of the spiritual life in the churches and
in the hearts of many individuals.

With the experience of a hundred years behind it. The
Congregationalist is in a position to minister more effectually
than ever to the Congregational Churches of America in the
great new period on which they are entering.

Report of the General Publications Department

Between March 1, 1915, and March 1, 1917, the department
received, examined and passed upon 406 manuscripts; (be-
tween Mar. 1, 1915 and 1916, 200, and 206 in 1916 and 1917).

A word of explanation concerning the method of treatment

350 SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY [1917

of manuscripts may be in place. All manuscripts receive one
reading, most receive two readings, and if the reports are
favorable a third or fourth reading may be required. On the
basis of these reports the editors discuss the question of pubh-
cation in conference with the head of the bookstore, the head
of the sales department, and the head of the printing plant.
The judgment of this group of practical men concerning the
marketable value of a manuscript is taken into consideration
in reporting on the manuscripts to the committee of the
Board of Directors on publications. If this latter committee
authorizes the publication of a manuscript it is then reported
for final action to the Board of Directors.

It is the desire of the editors of this department to obtain
the advice concerning each manuscript of readers who are
especially informed concerning the subject treated, if that is
necessary.

During this same period 55 books were pubhshed, 27 in
1915-1916, 28 between March, 1916, and March, 1917. There
is not space in this report for the listing of all these titles, but
we would like to present a ghmpse of the group in order that
something of its value, quality and breadth of interest may
be appreciated.

Connected with missionary subjects we have published a
splendid volume by John H. Hewitt on Williams College and
Foreign Missions. Also an exceedingly interesting biography,
Davis: Soldier-Missionary , which is the life story of Dr. J. D.
Davis of Japan, written by his son; and for home missions
we have presented Leaves from the Log of a Sky-Pilot, an
autobiographic sketch by W. G. Puddefoot.

Among the volumes on miscellaneous topics there is The
Gospel in Art, by Albert E. Bailey, a notable volume for any
pubhshing house. The Church and the People's Play, by
Henry A. Atkinson; the only extended discussion of the re-
lation of the Church to recreation. Conversations with Luther,
by Preserved Smith and Prof. Gallinger, a volume containing
much material never before published in English; Israel's
Account of the Beginnings, by Walter M. Patton, an up-to-date
exposition of the first twelve chapters of Genesis ; The Master's
Way, by Charles R. Brown, containing studies in the Life of
Christ as told in the first three gospels.

1917] SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY 351

Other themes not distinctly religious are presented in The
Boy Problem in the Home, by William B. Forbush; Humble
Annals of a Back Yard, a delightful account of home life in a
suburban community, by Walter A. Dyer; Studies in Shake-
speare, bj'^ Homer B. Sprague, for many years a student and
teacher of Shakespearean literature.

During these two years we have published only three books
of fiction for adults but each of these is admirable in its way.
The Picture Land of the Heart, by William Allen Knight;
Frederica Dennison, Spinster, by Elizabeth Price; and The
Genius of Elizabeth Anne, by Mabel H. Robbins.

We have however published a considerable number of
juveniles, all of which we are glad to commend to the homes of
our people. Among the most attractive are The Jolly Year
and The Bluebirds^ Garden, by Patten Beard; His Birthday,
by Mary Ellen Chase, a beautiful story of the childhood of
Jesus; The House of Delight, by Gertrude C. Warner; Stories
For Sunday Telling, by Carolyn S. Bailey; and On Nazareth
Hill, by Albert E. Bailey.

Among the manuscripts received during this period there
are also 27, which are now in process of publication and will
appear on our list for the fall of 1917.

Missionary and Extension Department
Notwithstanding contemplated changes the work of the
Missionary and Extension Department from 1915-1917 has
been very similar to that of the immediately preceding years
and has gone forward successfully. The extension of new
lines of railway has not been so great as in some years, and
the necessity for forming schools in new communities in
preparation for the following-up by the • Home Missionary
Society with church organization has not been as urgent as
in some previous times. The continued helpful cooperation
between the denominations has called for a more intensive
work, but in m.any cases fewer organizations. Increased
attention has been given to the fostering of new schools in
growing cities, and enlarged efforts have been made to reach
the new Americans in our country. Assistance has been given
in publishing papers in the Swedish and Greek languages. It
is also hoped that similar aid may be given the Armenian and

352 SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY [1917

French people. A superintendent has also been employed to
have special charge of the work among the colored people of
the South.

Since the last reports to the National Council there have
been organized 319 new schools with 10,280 new pupils. This
is 205 less than the number of schools organized during the
two preceding years, due in part to the closer cooperation
between the denominations. One hundred thirty-seven schools
have been reorganized, which is 61 less than for the preceding
period. These reorganized schools have 4,438 members, thus
making a total of 456 schools with 14,718 pupils. The Society
has aided 856 schools with 1,667 grants of literature. The
number of schools aided was 398 less than during the pre-
ceding period and 719 less grants were made.

As usual the extension work has been made in places where
there was no other Sunday School work of any kind. Emphasis
has been placed on the work of developing and strengthening
schools already established and 1,823 institutes and confer-
ences have been held, which is only 230 less than the number,
of similar gatherings during the two preceding years.

This work has necessitated much travelhng over wide
sections of the country on the part of our field force, but there
has been a splendid response to the assistance thus offered..
The help of the District Secretaries, who from now on will
probably represent the Society as a whole, has been especially
valuable in connection with this phase of the work.

There have been employed during the two years, respectively,
57 and 61 permanent workers, also two temporary workers
during the first year and 10 during the last year. There have
been more changes than usual among the field force and we
have lost three members, each of whom had served our So-
ciety for twenty years or more. Rev. Robert P. Herrick, D.D.,
of Minnesota, died in June, 1915; Rev. J. D. Stewart of Ne-
braska in April, 1916; and Rev. Allen S. Bush of Colorado
retired from his active work to enjoy his old home in Con-
necticut. All of these men had given a great deal to their
communities and this Society, and they have been missed by
all their associates. In May, Dr. William Ewing, who had
been the head of this department since 1907, retired from
active work after thirty years of service for this Society.

1917] SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY 353

The work of this department has made marked progress under
his leadership, and although those associated with him were
glad that he was to enjoy a larger freedom, they regretted the
loss of his leadership.

The entire income for the two j^ears has been S175,489.30,
which is $4,638.31 in advance of the previous biennial. In-
cluding all branches of the work and a deficit of the year
preceding, there has been expended during the two years
$167,286.48, leaving a balance on hand of $8,202.82.

The legacy funds of the Society have had an unusually large
increase; about the usual amount of conditional gifts have
also been received.

Our denomination has a great opportunity before it as it
works with other denominations to take the Sunday School
and Church to places not yet reached, and to assist and
strengthen schools already established, keeping in mind the
new demands that are being made on our schools by the
multitudes of new Americans who are coming as strangers to
our shore.

The Business Department

The year in which the former Council was held and the
fiscal 5'ear of The Pilgrim Press, which closed February 28,
1917, was one of the best in cash profits in the history of the
Society. During that year advantageous paper contracts
were still in operation, so the Society did not feel the increased
costs due to the war very greatly.

In June of 1916, Luther H. Cary, at his own request, took
charge of the Western Agency and Bookstore in Chicago, and
F. M. Sheldon succeeded him as business manager. During
Mr. Cary's years as business manager. The Pilgrim Press
increased its volume of business and was placed on a firmer
financial basis.

The year closing February 28, 1917, shows total sales in
Boston and Chicago of $609,453.64 as against $579,448.16
the preceding year, an increase of $30,005.48. Of this increase,
$23,161.01 was in Boston. $6,844.47 in Chicago. The total
cost of this material for the year just closed was $416,661.08
against $378,152.35 for the preceding year, an increase of
$38,508.73. Thus the increase in cost of material sold was

354 SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY [1917

$8,503.25 more than the increase in sales. Of the $38,508.73
increase in cost of material sold, $30,255.27 was due to
increase in manufacturing account.

The expense of selling this material was $189,303.23 last
year and $174,720.33 the year before, an increase of $14,582.90.
Of this increase $5,465.39 was in Boston and $9,117.51 in
Chicago. ,

The total inventory value February 28, 1917, was $171,-
682.39 against $145,975.28 February 29, 1916, an increase
of $25,707.11, of which increase $16,340.21 is in Boston and
$9,366.90 in Chicago. This does not include the printing
plant.

The summary of business earnings for the year shows profits
of $9,045.59 against $34,540.35 for the previous year, of which
profits $5,297.24 was in Boston and $9,377.47 at the plant, and
$5,629.12 loss in Chicago. The profits in Boston were
$14,915.52 less than the year preceding, at the plant there
was an increase of $1,764.82 and in Chicago a loss of $12,344.06.

Among expense increases there is approximately $3,000
increase in salaries and $2,680.32 in editorial expenses in
Boston. This has been offset by a decrease of approximately
$6,000 in advertising expense. In Chicago there has been
approximately $2,300 increase in salaries, $4,259.38 in Furni-
ture and Fixtures, and the remainder in General Expense.

The deficit on The Congregationalist for the past year was
$4,557.45 as compared with $6,582.32 for the year before. The
total cost of the paper for the year 1916-1917 was $62,446.78
as against $67,077.07 for the previous year, a decrease of
$4,630.29. The receipts for the year were $57,889.33 as
compared with $60,494.75 for the previous year.

The year which closed February 28, 1917, has presented
some serious problems, the change in management about
the end of the first quarter resulting in more or less dis-
organization, publishing and other plans which had been held
up, leaving the plant with scanty employment early in the
year and overcrowding it toward the end of the year, the
increased cost of everything entering into the manufacture
of books, papers and periodicals (which constitutes the largest
item in our increased purchases in Boston, paper being the
largest single item) the impossibility of increasing the price of

1917] SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY 355

certain products at all and of increasing others as fast as the
increase of the cost of material, the charging off of at least
$2,500 on uncollectible accounts in Boston and Chicago, the
impossibility of securing from England the Weymouth New
Testament, one of our best sellers and profit producers, have
made the year a difficult one.

The war has been a disturbing factor, and now that our
nation is actually participating, the uncertainties have in-
creased. The present year must be one of great care and con-
servatism. This has been emphasized with the heads of all
departments here in Boston, and has been and is being
thoroughly gone into by the business manager and the busi-
ness committee with the Chicago agency.

The following suggestions are pertinent to the pres-
ent year:

1. That every effort consistent with efficiency be
made to keep the expenses at minimum.

2. To produce and purchase primarily those things
which will have most certain and ready sale.

3. To publish only at the expense of the author all
books which will not most surely be safe investments
for ourselves.

4. To decrease rather than increase stock on hand,
thus helping our cash situation by having profits for
the present year in cash rather than in stock assets.

5. To exercise great care that all advertising be judi-
cious and of a character to insure returns.

6. That special effort be made through present
agencies, by better service, to increase the sales of
irierchandise and periodicals.

7. Steps should be and are being taken to separate
the accounts of The Pilgrim Press from the accounts of
the Boston bookstore, to the end that we may more
accurately determine the financial returns under these
two heads.

8. We have already taken steps which will give us
more definitely for the present year just the financial
results in each department of the organization.

356 SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY [1917

The year has brought real improvement in departmental
cooperation. Meetings of heads of departments and leading
workers have been held for the purpose of considering our
common task and securing needed adjustments. A syste-
matic method of requisitions, and thus more adequate O.K.'ing
of bills, has been secured. Departmental responsibihty has
been defined and more definitely located. Plans have been
made for distributing our printing throughout the year, thus
keeping the plant steadily busy, avoiding extra pay for over-
time, and getting our books out in season for the fall trade.
Sunday School periodicals have at times been late reaching
our customers. The time when all such supplies are to be
ready for distribution has been set forward sufficiently to
remove this difficulty. Steps have been taken to see that all
orders received are filled the same day, unless they come in
late in the afternoon.

Too much cannot be said in commendation of the coopera-
tive spirit being shown by all department heads and most of
our helpers. It is increasingly fine, and, due to planning to-
gether, increasingly effective. Each department seems to
sense the necessity for team work, and to be desirous of con-
tributing to the success of the enterprise as a whole.

The addition of Mr. Nelson as head of the accounting de-
partment is abundantly justifying itself. Through his careful
work we shall make very considerable savings, have our col-
lections attended to in a thorough manner, and shall increas-
ingly know the relative financial returns from various depart-
ments of our business.

Mr. White has taken a firm hold on circulation matters,
and some results are already apparent, but it is too early to
estimate the full value of special service in this connection.

Notwithstanding the slack period in the spring and the
overcrowding in the fall, the printing plant has had a good
year. It has paid the Arakelyan annuity of $8,000 and shows
over $9,000 in profits beside. The Society is dealing with the
plant on a more liberal basis, and is endeavoring to discover
more nearly what the plant is worth to the Society. Mr.
Jordan is making noteworthy effort to place the plant on a
satisfactory basis.

The Chicago agency is dealt with more liberally under the

1917] SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLISfflNG SOCIETY 357

new contract than was formerly the case. Owing to the
thorough acquaintance of Mr. Gary with the book business,
the pohcy has been to give him large freedom in handling the
business of the agency.

All things considered, The Pilgrim Press is holding its own
and organizing its activities in such a manner as to render
increasingly valuable service to the denomination.

THE CONGREGATIONAL BOARD OF

MINISTERIAL RELIEF AND

THE ANNUITY FUND

This terrible war, in which the major part of the civiHzed
nations of the world are now engaged, has revealed a pur-
pose to care for the ill and the wounded from the theater
of the war, and also for those left dependent at home. The
Red Cross and other agencies vie with one another to
supplement the work being done officially through the
agencies of the warring nations. Hospitals abound in the
field and base hospitals farther removed from the firing
zone. The wealthy have given up elegant homes for the
care of the sick and wounded, for the dying and the con-
valescent, for the maimed and the blinded.

Millions have been appropriated by the nations and
millions more given by the people, individually. The
world has never seen such vast sums and plans available
for the victims of a war. But, all these are still inadequate
and the sufferings of the- heroes, on many a battlefield,
have failed to receive the timely and essential ministry
which their condition required. None of us feels that this
work has been accomplished. Larger gifts and greater
sacrifices are demanded and will be forthcoming.

For a moment now, we think of other soldiers — Soldiers
of the Cross — who answered the call of God and enlisted
in the Holy War. Some of them have been on the firing
line for many years, receiving only a soldier's pay, which is
always small. Out of this they were obliged to purchase
their own supplies. In this army, there is no commis-
sary department, no supplies' bureau, no field kitchens,
no " dough squad." The paymaster is probably not as
sure as Uncle Sam, though reasonably sure, but cer-
tainly not as prompt. The soldiers in this war have en-
listed for Hfe. When old and gray-headed, the church
cannot, must not, forsake them.

358

1917] BOARD OF MINISTERIAL RELIEF 359

The Board of Relief and The Annuity Fund represent
the hospital and the Red Cross departments of the church.
The churches in their local capacity, try to provide
for these soldiers while they are in the active service,
but when they are retired, through illness or old age, then
the churches in their collective capacity as a whole, try
to minister to them of the things essential to their physical
comfort and ease of mind. It is a beautiful ministry, not
of charity but of just obligation, not of compulsion but of
love.

How well are our Congregational Churches doing this
Red Cross and hospital work? What are their agencies
and what is their report for the two years past, to be made
to the Government, that is the National Council?

(This statement covers the period from August 1st,
1915, to July 31st, 1917, inclusive.)

State Relief Societies

While this statement does not pretend to represent or
cover the work done by the State Relief Societies, no
estimate of what is being done, denominationally, would be
complete without reference to the admirable work done by
these organizations. We do not have the figures from the
State Societies, covering the biennial period, but we do have
them for one year of that period, viz., the calendar year
of 1916.

The fourteen State Societies, which are, California,
Northern and Southern, Connecticut, IlUnois, Iowa, Massa-
chusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Rhode
Island, Maine, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin,
held on January 1st, 1917, $415,101.43, in permanent
funds, and cared for, during 1916, 228 pensioners, to whom
they paid that year $34,693.42. Their combined receipts
for the year, including legacies and gifts to their endow-
ments were $49,091.17.

360 BOARD OF MINISTERIAL RELIEF [1917

THE CONGREGATIONAL BOARD OF MINISTERIAL

RELIEF

Receipts. — For the two years closing July 31st, 1917, the
total receipts from all sources have been $969,256.09, as
against $121,920.69 for the former biennial period. A
special gift of $25,000 to the Endowment Fund was re-
ceived and the James Legacy of $750,000 during this last
biennium.

Omitting these unusual gifts from the comparison, the
gain in the receipts of the present biennium, over the
former, is $72,335.40.

It awakens our gratitude to note that, notwithstanding
the war conditions which have prevailed during the past
two years, involving great financial stress and uncertainty,
disturbing the conditions of the business world, the re-
ceipts have so largely exceeded those of the former period.

There has been added to the Endowment Fund, $836,-
298.43, and the total of said fund with Conditional Gifts
on August 1st, 1917, at cost, or book value, was $1,151,344.86.

Pensioners — Number of Pensioners and Amounts paid
them during the two years:

There have been 305 families enrolled on the pension
hst. The Board paid to these famihes, $81,783.83. In
addition the Board paid to State Societies, $8,996.23, which
was used for pensioners and members of their families
on the rolls of the State Societies.

Of those on the Board's roll, 167 were males and 138
females. The amount paid to the males was $49,356.75,
and to the females, $32,427.08. We find that we are paying,
at the close of the biennium, an average annual rate, to
the pensioners, of $212.28 to males and $129.22 to females.
The maximum pension is $350 per annum, but this amount
can only be allowed in the more extreme cases of need, or
where there is more than one person dependent on the
pension.

It will be interesting to note that of the total sum paid
to the pensioners for two years, the largest amount went
to 29 pensioners residing within the boundaries of the
Southern California Conference, viz., $8,257.58. The next

1917] BOARD OF MINISTERIAL RELIEF 361

largest amount was to 29 pensioners in New York State,
$7,654.75. Then follows Ohio, with 23 pensioners, receiv-
ing $7,067.75; Ilhnois, with 27, receiving $5,407; Kansas,
with 14 pensioners, receiving $5,227.50; Washington,
with 15, receiving $4,854.50; Nebraska, with 11, receiving
$3,918.50. The Board has had pensioners in 42 states, the
District of Columbia and the Hawaiian Islands.

These figures as compared with the former biennium in
the number of pensioners, or families, show an increase
from 240 to 305, an addition of 65 names to the roll of
honor. This increase has been in spite of the fact that a
large number of those who were on the roll two years ago,
have passed on to their Heavenly Home. The amount
paid to pensioners is $81,783.83, as against $64,701.53
of the former biennium, an increase of $17,082.30.

The above facts indicate two things, first, the increasing
interest of the denomination in the cause of Ministerial
ReUef, and second, the growing number of those who are
entitled to and need the loving, generous, ministry of the
churches, in the time of their infirmity and old age.

THE ANNUITY FUND FOR CONGREGATIONAL
MINISTERS

This Fund, under the care of the same Board of Directors
which administers the work of the Board of Relief, has now
been estabhshed and doing business for three years and
two months, the first certificate having been issued on the
7th of May, 1914. It seems well, therefore, in view of the
brief period in which the Annuity Fund has been in opera-
tion, that the statement should cover the period from the
beginning.

While the growth of the Fund, in members and re-
ceipts, has been slow, it has been sure. Over 400 certifi-
cates of membership have been issued, an increase, since
the report two years ago, of nearly 150 members. The
members have paid into the Fund a total of $77,514.94,
This entire sum has been invested, the interest being added
to the principal, so that the Membership Fund, less the
few payments which it has been necessary to make to

362 BOARD OF MINISTERIAL RELIEF [1917

those who have claims against the Fund because of disa-
bihty or death, is held intact for the benefit of the mem-
bers, as per the contract in their certificates.

The expense involved in the promotion of the Fund has
been a charge upon the gifts of its friends, contributed for
this purpose, and from the funds which have been provided
by the churches. The Membership Fund stands today on
the books, at $82,137.31.

Special donations and the net income from the invested
Endowment Funds have been used for the beginning of a
Reserve Fund, which now amounts to $2,239.60. The
donations for the Permanent Fund were $27,474.79, making
that Fund, with the Conditional Gifts and the income from
the same, $2,525, a total of $29,999.79.

There has been received also from churches and in-
dividuals, for the establishment and maintenance of the
Fund, including $6,223.00, specially designated for expenses,
a total of $37,292.16. This makes a total of cash received
since the inauguration of the Fund, of $151,668.86, to which
should be added subscriptions obtained and not yet due,
an amount sufficient to bring the total to about $246,000.

The investments of the Fund are in government and
railroad bonds and approved mortgages. The annual
liabilities against the Fund, at the present time, are much
less than the interest on its assets. These assets are grow-
ing all the while.

REPORT OF FEDERAL COUNCIL OF THE
CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN AMERICA

In behalf of the Federal Council and its Executive Com-
mittee, we hereby convey the six volumes constituting the
Quadrennial reports of the Council, designated " Library of
Christian Co-operation," for the consideration of the con-
stituent bodies. We also convey the Federal Council Year
Book for 1917, containing full information regarding ecclesi-
astical bodies in the United States.

In order to facilitate the consideration of these voluminous
reports, we deem it advisable to summarize the present
activities of the Council, as authorized by the Third Quad-
rennial Meeting at St. Louis, in December, 1916.

The meeting in St. Louis was attended by duly elected
members from all the constituent bodies, received a report of
the Committee of Fifteen, making comprehensive recom-
mendations as to matters of policy, received full reports of
all the various Commissions and Committees, and after
careful consideration by the Business Committee, took action
determining the work of the Council for the coming quad-
rennium.

Acting under these directions, we report the work of the
Council now in progress as follows:

1. At its National Offices in New York, under the direction
of the General Secretary, Executive and Field Secretaries
and staff, the Council is engaged in the co-ordination of
Christian forces in the interest of national and international
Christian life. A Pubhcation and Printing Department of
considerable magnitude is maintained with adequate ma-
chinery for reaching the churches and for the publication of
volumes and pamphlets.

A Religious Publicity Bureau is now being developed.

The Council has local correspondents in every city of the
United States and has foreign correspondents connected with
the Protestant churches of all the countries of the world.

363

364 CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN AMERICA [1917

In addition to the meetings of its own Committees and
Commissions, the Council calls frequent representative con-
ferences upon matters of common interest to all the churches.

The National Offices maintain a staff of about forty persons
engaged in this united work.

2. At the office in Washington, D. C, affairs of national
religious concern are considered by a special Committee and
an Associate Secretary, the work including such matters as
chaplains in the Army and Navy, the development of the
religious welfare of the Ai"my and Navy, the rehgious census,
the special work in the interest of the colored churches, and
missionary affairs of national and international concern.

3. The Commission on Inter-Church Federations is con-
stantly engaged in the organization of local federations of
churches and enlists the cooperation of the several denomina-
tional and interdenominational organizations in this interest.
A most important congress on " The Purpose and Methods of
Inter-Church Federations " will be held at Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, October 1-4, 1917.

4. The Home Missions' Council is a cooperating body and
brings together the Home Mission Boards of the denomina-
tions in the interest of the effective distribution of Christian
forces in Home Mission fields.

The Commission on Church and Country Life is furthering
this great interest by securing cooperation between rural
churches. It is now making State surveys.

5. A Committee on Foreign Missions supplements the work
of the Foreign Mission Boards in encouraging cooperation
in all ihe various phases of foreign mission work.

6. The Commission on Evangelism, uniting the evangelistic
committees of the various denominations, is endeavoring to
bring about an adjustment of this important work so as to
serve more fully, effectively and permanently the interests
of the churches by stimulating pastoral evangelism and
through simultaneous and continuous evangelistic movements.

7. The Commission on Church and Social Service expresses
the Christian view of social questions, co-ordinates the social
service agencies of the denominations, holds religious labor
mass meetings, is prosecuting a campaign for the conservation
of human life, a temperance fellowship movement among

1917] CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN AMERICA 365

workingmen, and a nation-wide campaign for one day's rest
in seven for industrial workers. The Commission is under-
taking work in the interest of the moral and spiritual welfare
of the Army and Navy and is also giving appropriate co-
operation in the humanitarian work of the American Red
Cross.

8. The Commission on International Justice and Goodwill
is conducting an educative campaign through text-books and
lesson courses and other literature in churches, Sunday schools,
men's classes and groups, and through cooperation with the
World AUiance for Promoting International Friendship
through the Churches, is in relations with the Protestant
churches of the various countries in Europe.

A Commission on Relations with the Orient is engaged in
furthering goodwill in this important part of the world and
is endeavoring to secure the adjustment of our relations upon
the basis of justice and goodwill.

9. The Commission on Christian Education secures the
cooperation of the Sunday school Boards and the Boards of
Education of the denominations in a united program with
common literature. Special attention is being given to the
problem of religious education in connection with the public
school curricula. A text-book and two series of lessons on
international peace and an important volume on the entire
question of religious education are being circulated.

10. The Commission on Temperance has joined forces
with the historic National Temperance Society, is publishing
four temperance papers, one for adults, two for children
and one for workingmen, and is engaged in a nation-wide
educational campaign, for which it is securing the cooperation
of the church forces.

11. Committees have been appointed to survey, report
and present recommendations on such important matters of
national concern as Family Life and Rehgious Rest Day.

12. The Nation-wide War ReHef Movement, in which
several of the leading organizations have cooperated, is being
continued among the churches and communities. Large
sums of money are being secured and the Council is carrying
on this work without any cost for overhead administrative
expenses.

366 CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN AMERICA [1917

13. The General Secretary is securing financial assistance
for the stricken churches and missions in Europe and Asia,
more especially for the Belgian missions and the Huguenot
churches in France.

For particular needs as they appear, special movements
are being promoted or carried on from time to time, such as
the Committee on Ministerial Reuef , the Quadri-Centennial
of the Reformation, the American Huguenot Committee,
the Committee on Christian Work in the Canal Zone, the
Ministers' Institutes for Colored Ministers, the Annual
Week of Prayer, and many similar movements uniting all
the churches in great causes and upon common tasks. A
special day of prayer was invited February 18, which was
widely observed. A call to prayer for the week preceding
Easter was also issued, in which appropriate subjects for the
week were suggested.

In behalf of the Board of Finance, we should remind the
constituent bodies that the work of the Council is in the in-
terest of economy. Nearly all of these tasks would cost many
times as much as they do if they were performed separately
by the different denominations and would not be done so
speedily, constantly and effectively.

The Administrative Committee of the Executive Committee
has been enlarged and is more fully representative of the con-
stituent denominations. It increasingly endeavors to keep
informed fully as to the attitude of these denominations
through constant consultation with their officially elected
representatives.

In conveying the six volumes of Quadrennial Reports,
attention should be called to the action of the meeting at
St. Louis distinguishing between informational matter in
such reports and the actions approved specifically by the
Council or its Executive Committee. It is upon these actions
that the approval of the constituent bodies is requested and
it is only for these that the Council assumes responsibility.

The call for a broad conception of the mission of the Church
was never so appealing — the need of a practicable program
never more clear. The light of the Gospel is not dimmed in
these vital days of the world's life, but the ways must be
cleared for its radiation. Never again can the Gospel which

1917] CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN AMERICA 367

is for humanity be cloistered! The Church must meditate,
reflect, pray, beheve. It must also courageously and power-
fully work in the name of Him who said " My Father worketh
hitherto, and I work." It is the confident purpose of the
Federal Council so to fill its place in the modern program
as to conserve the best in every one of its constituent bodies,
to express effectively the common convictions and aims of
all, and, within the limitations of its constitution and authori-
zation, to be in the highest sense a minister of the gospel in
the name of the Churches and of their one Master, our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ.

Respectfully submitted,

Frank Mason North,

President

Charles S. Macfarland,
General Secretary

THE MODERATOR'S ADDRESS

HON. HENRY M. BEARDSLEY

TESTING THE GOSPEL IN THE TWENTIETH
CENTURY

Today I lay down the duties of the office of Moderator,
two years ago conferred upon me. I have fulfilled these
duties as best I could, conscious of my lack, both of ability
and opportunity. The gain has been most of all my own —
a larger appreciation of the great history of our church, a
broader conception of the things possible of accomplishment
by it under better organization and united enthusiasm. You
chose a layman two years ago for Moderator. I have wanted
to contribute as I have been able to our common cause from
the layman's standpoint. In this hour rendering the final
service appertaining to this office, I trust I may be able to add
somewhat to that contribution.

The gospel of Jesus of Nazareth has other values of which
we need not now speak. In this hour we recognize it as con-
taining the announcement of a program intended for this
world — ^or the here and now — for this world in its social
life, in its industrial life, in its commercial life, and in its
international life.

That forerunner of the Great Teacher, John the Baptist,
understood it so when they crowded around him and were
anxious concerning the things they must do toward bringing
in the better time. To the people who gathered he said,
" Let him who has two coats give to him who has none ";
to the tax gatherers he said, " Collect no more than is due ";
and to the soldiers, " Do no violence to anyone; accuse no
man falsely; be content with your wages."

The Great Teacher himself did not charge his followers to
separate themselves from the world. There are ambitions
and purposes bred of worldly conditions which are to be
avoided; but every man who is His true disciple must be in
the midst of the world's affairs; he must be a true soldier, not

368

1917] THE moderator's address 369

a slacker. The yoke which is to be easy is not a paper affair
which can be easily torn, but a burden-bearing, burden-Ufting
yoke, of strongest stuff, which shall fit so well on the shoulders
of men as to make burden lifting a joy. The peace He gives
is not the peace of a soul without a task, but the peace which
comes to one who in the midst of all life's battle is conscious
he is right and therefore secure as he toils.

He magnified the value of the individual man. According
to his teaching everyone is known and of importance to the
All-Father; each has his duty to fulfill; each a possible victory
in his life. Institutions and conduct among men are to be
such that a maximum of opportunity will come to each to be
a full, true man.

The question is sometimes asked: " Can a man be a suc-
cessful business man or professional man, a successful farmer
or public official, and be a Christian? " An answer to this
question does not meet the situation, for it separates the suc-
cess in the affairs of life from Christian living. The true ques-
tion to ask concerning a man is this: " Is he a Christian busi-
ness or professional man? " The question is not whether he
can in the midst of his business somehow remain a Christian,
but rather is his business dealing in fact Christian? Is his
business part of his life's program as a Christian man?

Again and again by precept and parable the Great Teacher
emphasized the practical value of his teachings. In the
picture He drew of the day of final judgment where men are
called upon to give an account of their lives, he made it clear
that the test is whether or not those who had need had been
ministered unto.

Let us get a view of the matter in such large outline that the
issue may be clearly seen and understood.

Over the fireplace in the living room of my home hangs a
picture of the old Roman Forum. In the background I can
see the way along which the great Roman generals led their
triumphal processions as they returned victorious from their
foreign wars with captives and spoils and a proud army. If
we had lived in the days of Augustus and Tiberius, we would,
I doubt not, have said that through such conquering hosts
civilization was to be extended, uncultured people to be bound
to the best of their time, and human progress made possible.

370 THE moderator's address [1917

I doubt not vigorous men, strong men, commanding men,
who by the power of intellect or great energy had won fortune
or place, would have appealed to us as the type of men who
would through all time dominate the world, and dominating
the world would, even at the sacrifice and loss of others, have
won glory and power and wealth for themselves, and we
would have pointed all young men to the example of these as
worthy of all their ambition.

Our Master lived in that day, a humble workman, at
Nazareth of Galilee. From the top of the hill above his home
he could have looked down on the great highway which led
from the Mediterranean Sea up to Damascus; and looking,
would have seen these Roman legions on their way to further
the conquest of civilization. About him were the scenes of
many of the great battles won by his own people, led by the
heroes of earlier time, Gideon, and Balak, and the Maccabees.
He saw more clearly than did any other the apparent victory
of selfish ambitions. He distinguished the defenders of right-
eousness from those selfishly ambitious. The program He
laid down did not agree with the popular purposes and hopes
of His time.

He taught that the humble in spirit, not the proud and
selfishly great, should inherit the earth; that the peace makers,
and not the war makers, were to be commended; that to win
the great prize, the individual life must be wholly given, not
to triumph, but to service; that every talent possessed of
men is given for the use of their fellows; and that a practical
solution of all the problems men meet in the world lies in
being true to these, His teachings.

There was the issue clearly made; the centuries since have
witnessed the trial of it; the present time, blood-stained and
woful, is considering it.

That same old Roman empire, with its conquests and
achievements, so gripped the imaginations of men that the
church which the followers of the Master founded absorbed
the ideals of the empire. It grew rich and great in temporal
power. Kings and emperors bowed before the head of the
organized church and did his bidding. It held the power of
life and death, and assumed to hold the keys of heaven and
hell. It followed not the teachings of the Master, refused to

1917] THE moderator's address 371

obey the leadings of His program, and the Reformation
came.

Charles V, the great emperor, was ruler of half the known
world — Austria, Spain, The Netherlands, Naples and Sicily,
the islands of the sea, the new lands in America. His empire
was founded on the old ideals of the Roman times. With all
the power of the organized state, with all the strength and
coercive force of armies and navies, backed with the tortures
of the Inquisition, he sought to rule the world. The day came
when, his hand resting upon the shoulder of a young prince of
the people, he resigned liis empire unto the hands of his son
Philip. Then the winds of the heaven came and dashed the
Spanish Armada into pieces, and the great empire disinte-
grated. Louis XIV of France, clinging still to the old ideals,
built up his empire with pomp and power, but in the end his
time came to leave and he saw the outcome of things. On
his deathbed he called for the dauphin, a beautiful child, five
years of age, sole relic of all his legitimate hne of France.
" My child," said he to him, " you will soon be the king of
a great realm. Try to preserve peace with your neighbors.
I have been too fond of war. Do not imitate me in that."

In later days came Napoleon, who gathered about him his
legions Uke the legions of Rome of old, who seemed to have
the power to go where they willed, into the shadows of the
pyramids, over the Alps into Italy, across Austria and Ger-
many. But the day came when he was compelled to lay down
his power, and a prisoner on the island, he walked alone and
confessed that the empire he had founded could last but for
a day, while the empire founded by the Great Teacher should
endure through the centuries.

And through the centuries the teachings of the Master had
not gone untried. The spirit of martyrdom and the evidence
of the Uves of the heroic souls who were willing to give self
for their cause, beginning with that little band of disciples
who had gathered about him, grew in the life of the world.
When the church, powerful, rich and selfish, and full of tem-
poral authority, seemed to have a grip upon the world which
could not be loosened, out of. the midst of the life of it came
men — leaders who based their life and teachings upon the
Master's ruHng.

372 THE moderator's address [1917

Luther translated the Bible into the common language of
the people of Germany.

There in Venice, under the very shadow of the seat of the
pomp and power of the established church, flourished a Uttle
republic, and there lived and wrought Paolo Sarpi, determined
that the democratic ideals taught by the Master should not
perish from the earth and following His precepts wholly in
the giving of his life. They tried to assassinate him. In the
.evening, crossing the brook, not guarded, as was his wont, the
assassin attacked him. Long afterward when his body was
taken from its grave, preserved as it had been, there remained
still the great gash on his throat where the attempt on his life
had been made. He carried in his pocket a pellet of poison,
fearing that if he were taken captive his will would not be
able to stand against the torment to which he would be sub-
jected. He died at last and his body was buried, and it was
thought to raise in the public place in Venice a monument to
his memory. That power against which he had battled sought
to destroy his body, but it was hidden from the attempt.
Then they gathered and burned his books, but the influence
of his Hfe went on. More than two and one-half centuries
after his death the monument to his memory rose in Venice.

That young prince upon whose shoulder the hand of the
great emperor, Charles V, rested as he abdicated the throne of
his empire, was William of Orange, William the Silent, one
of the nobility of his time. Educated at the court of Spain,
with all the avenues open to him for promotion and power,
he chose to give his life rather than to save it, to lose it that
he might find it; and he led the people of The Netherlands,
his own people, against the power of the great empire. The
assassin's hand took his life at last there in the dark passage-
way. As he died his last words were concerning his people
and their welfare. What nobler words could be spoken of
any man than were concerning him in those last lines of John
Lathrop Motley's great history, " The Rise of the Dutch
Republic " — "As long as he lived he was the guiding star
of a whole brave people, and when he died the little children
cried in the streets."

There is not time to speak of those other great lives whose
story comes to us as we think and speak concerning this

1917] THE moderator's address 373

theme — of Hampden, to whom it would have mattered not
much that he should pay the added ship tax demanded by
the king, but to whom it would have mattered very much if
he had not been waUing to surrender his life to save a people
from oppression; or of Washington, cultured, one of the
richer men of his time, risking all with a struggling people,
determined to win their independence from the hands of
the monarch of a great empire; or of Lincoln, bowed under
his great load, not mindful of self, saving a nation's life and
liberating a race.

So the battle has gone on, and now in these last days in
what great and evident way is the battle still waged!

We have felt in many large ways the influence of the teach-
ing of the Great Master in our own time; in the building of
institutions to care for the unfortunate, in the making of
public playgrounds for the welfare of the people and the
passing of laws for the relief of those who toil over-hours, in
regulating the places of employment, and touching child
labor and the rights of womanhood, and in that large way in
which with generosity individual men and women have given
to their time. Here springs up the great American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and into its service
wealth is poured and as well the lives of brilliant, forceful
men and women, through the decades; and likewise through
these other of our great societies, among the black men of the
South, and other alien races, and into the frontier. Into the
very heart of our college life has come the great appeal —
mark the Student Volunteer Movement, claiming the best
brained, the strongest, the ablest young men and women,
bringing them to the place where they have been willing to
throw aside all ambitions and plans and give their lives in
service to their time, even across the seas and in foreign lands.
So the testing of the Master's teaching goes on.

But note this other phase of the time. Yonder across the
sea rages the great conflict. Look at that for a moment.
The German people had hoped after the victory over Napoleon
for larger liberty. But always there dwelt in the minds of the
rulers of the kingdom of Prussia the vision of the old Roman
empire and its power; and still lived the faith, that through
such power civilization could be advanced, la 1862 Bismarck

374 THE moderator's address [1917

became the minister to the king of Prussia. He had been a
representative of that kingdom at the court of Russia, and
through his personal bearing had won favor with the Czar
and his court. He had been a representative of his kingdom at
the court of France; he knew Napoleon III intimately, dined
with him, played cards with him, knew his ambitions and
weaknesses. In his mind lay the vision, the old, old vision, of
the conquest of the world through might. " Blood and iron,"
said he, " are necessary. We must put Germany in the
saddle." He was not personally an unkind man, but lovable
in his home, yet brave and fearless. The German parliament
would not give him the money he wanted to train his army
or authorize his program. He was probably one of the most
unpopular men in his time among his own people, but he
persevered. Having said that through blood and iron the
way was to be made, the opportunity came. Schleswig and
Holstein on the change in the ruling monarch in Denmark
were absorbed in that kingdom. Uniting with Austria, Bis-
marck sent the Prussian army into the war against Denmark;
and Schleswig and Holstein were divided and Austria given
Holstein and Prussia, Schleswig.

The kingdoms and dukedoms of South Germany as yet
were out of sympathy with Prussia, but Bismarck's program
had been deliberately made. The controversy between
Germany and Austria over the relationships between Schles-
wig and Holstein and the Prussian power brought on the war
with Austria. Bismarck was ready with his army; the war
was brief and Austria was conquered. Those in authority
demanded that Austria should be punished and humiliated,
but in Bismarck's program it was planned otherwise. Austria
was to be ultimately part of the great central European
monarchy which was to go out and dominate the world, a
monarchy controlled through Prussia. So through this war
Prussia forced into union with her the governments of South
Germany.

Then came the war with France in 1870. Bismarck knew
Napoleon III. The throne of Spain was vacant and a Hohen-
zollern (the ruhng house of Prussia) was proposed for the
Spanish throne. France rose in rebellion. Prussia abandoned
the plan, but the minister of France in Prussia was told that

1917] THE moderator's address 375

he must get from the Prussian king a pledge against any
similar attempt in the future and an apology for the past.
That minister followed the emperor into his gardens and into
his palace, received from him the courteous but firm reply
that the attempt had been withdraw n and that there was no
purpose to renew it. The facts were put in Bismarck's hands;
it was for him to make public what had taken place, and with
deliberation he framed the narrative of the incident so that it
read that an insult had been made by the king of Prussia to
the French representative. France was in arms and the
Franco-Prussian war was on. It did not last long, and France
was humiliated, compelled to see thettriumphant^armies^of
Germany march through the streets of Paris. Not far from
Paris, at Versailles, the king of Prussia was crowned Emperor
of Germany, and France was compelled to pay her tribute of
one billion dollars to Germany and give up Alsace and Lor-
raine.

And all the while the vision of the dominant empire which
should have its place in the sun and rule the world grew on.
The song " Deutschland Uber Alles " became to German
leaders part of their religion.

These great movements crystalized themselves in the
lives of individual men. We have noted the purposes of
Bismarck. There was another man among the many whose
life stands out boldly in this historj'. That man is Trietschke.
His life seems so much like the life of a man of earlier time,
Ignatius Loj^ola. We remember how he, born in the days of
chivalry, was in his youth fired wdth the ambitions of knight-
hood. Crippled so that he could not enter the lists, he went
to Rome, where he came penniless, but determined if he could
not fight with sword and spear and battle axe, he would never-
theless fight to promote the greatness of the established
church. There in Rome he formed the order of Jesuits that
went out in that day all over the world into the courts and
kingdoms and empires, among the dwellings of the poor,
and the islands of the sea, and into the very frontier of civiliza-
tion. Somewhat such is the story of the life of Trietschke.
Filled in his early youth with the ambitions of the soldier,
hoping to give his life to that ambitious calling, he was stricken
with fever ; and when he grew again into strength, sitting one

376 THE moderator's address [1917

day in the back-yard of his home he saw a bird fly from the
ground into the sky and he knew it was singing, but he heard
it not. He became conscious then of the reason his mother
had gone about with sad face — he was deaf. Then there
came into his soul the ambition to use all the powers he had
to cultivate into his people that great ambition for the pro-
motion of which the army existed. He became a great student
of German history. All the grandeur and pomp and power
of the men of her earlier time he knew. He became a teacher
in Germany's schools and universities, and great crowds of
people came to hear him. The young men of the time hung
upon the words that came from his lips. He taught them all
that these German people were destined to be the great people
of the earth. He believed it so. Through war, he taught, all
the noblest in men is developed; that the nobler, finer virtues
rose out of it; that in times of peace was disintegration and
flabbiness in moral texture and living. " War," said he,
" is an ordinance set by God." Bernardi was one of his pupils.
He crystahzed the teaching of his master in these words:
" The state is the sole judge of the morality of its own action.
It is in fact above morality, or, in other words, whatever is
necessary is moral." The hope of the great empire and its
dominant power in the world lay in the Hohenzollern family,
rulers of Prussia. Bismarck and all these great German
leaders have been sure of that.

It seemed to these rulers of this empire in these later days
that the time had come to strike, the time to prove that the
Man of Nazareth was wrong; that the war-makers and not
the peace-makers should rule the earth ; that high and mighty
men of selfish and cruel valor should dominate, and not the
meek; that life was to be won by conquest over all other lives
and against all odds, and not by being given in service and
sacrifice. So the last great test between the two great ideals
of history is on. The outcome cannot be doubted.

A writer of these days has called attention to the fact that
aeons ago there roamed in the great northwest of our country
an animal, thirty-five feet long, sixteen feet high, who could
destroy and devour all that came in its way, but that now its
kind is gone; its bones are sometimes found in digging in the
mountains; and peaceful sheep roam over these same plains

1917] THE moderator's address 377

and mountainsides. So through all the centuries all the
scorpions and cruel wild beasts have succeeded with all their
ferocity in nothing except getting themselves exterminated;
and said he, prophetically, " That prophet of the old day,
who pictured the time when the hon and the lamb should he
down together, made only one mistake — there will be no
lion there."

Now in these days must not the organized church be more
certainly conscious of her own place of duty and opportunity?
She must know of the great struggle and of the issue involved
in it, and must have new confidence in her Great Teacher and
in His program, and go out to strive for it. I heard, the other
evening, a woman of abihty and culture speak concerning the
work of the Red Cross in these times, teUing of an organization
among women heading at the seat of war in France, issuing
its call for help, which went out to all parts of the civilized
world; and telhng of the answer which came — how groups
of women all over our own land at once set about to supply
the pressing need. In the presence of such facts one has a
vision of the days just ahead when no call can be made from
any part of this earth for aid that it shall not find its answer
elsewhere. The wonderful modern means of communication
and the interchange of information all help to make the ful-
fillment of this vision possible.

We must also recognize that the organized church is not
alone to keep to the part it has played in the past and hold its
sympathies with these larger visions, but it must also answer
the demand which is upon it to fulfill its mission in every
community, everywhere. What is the field of the organized
church? It is a great social organization in every community ;
it is the means of gathering together for social intercourse
people who find nowhere else such opportunity under the
leading and influence of the same high ideals and noble
purposes; it is the great place of religious education in the
Bible school and in the pulpit, educating the child life and the
mature life, giving an education that could not otherwise be
obtained; it is a great place for the development of the
individual in his own relationships to time and to eternity; a
place of direction of thought and of purpose and of strengthen-
ing of life's best ambitions. But it is something more than

378 THE moderator's address [1917

all these. At the heart of the pra^-er which the Great Master
taught lies the petition that the kingdom of heaven should
come and dwell among men. He did not propose certainly
that this should be an idle petition. There lies in it the promise
that the thing is possible. It follows then that if this may-
come the church is the organized force to bring it to
pass.

We all know the conditions which are to be met, how far
in all our living we are yet from believing in and following
the teachings of the Great Master. For gain and through
indifference lives of young manhood and young womanhood
are ruined; for gain in the great business world, individual
lives are- crushed and all opportunity for higher and better
things blotted out.

What has the organized church to do with all these things?
We have considered that. We have argued that its mission
was to teach the gospel and to let these other temporal matters
alone. I remember years ago having placed in my hands for
examination an abstract of title of some farm lands lying in
Vernon County, Missouri. In that abstract was a copy of a
will made in the fall of 1860 by a good Presbyterian church-
man. In it he left five thousand dollars to the trustees of the
Little Blue meeting house, the sum to be put at interest and
the income used to help pay the salary of a preacher at that
church. The will provided that the man who was to be em-
ployed, however, must be one who did not preach the doctrine
of the abohtion of slavery, but who preached the gospel of
Jesus Christ, and who let politics alone. Such has been
largely the belief among men as to the place of the church.
But in this instance the Civil War came on and the firing on
Sumpter and the battles of the spring of 1861, and in June or
July of that year the good Presbyterian brother wrote a
codicil to his will and wiped out the limitation he had put on
the use of this fund given to the trustees of the Little Blue
meeting-house.

Again, as concerns the great question of the Uquor traffic,
we have heard in our own time and in our great gatherings the
same argument; and men whom we honor and respect have
advocated that the organized church should not propose and
endorse legislation for the absolute prohibition of the liquor

1917] THE moderator's address 379

traffic because this was a matter of state concern and not a
matter for concern of the church.

But the great number of our church people have been of
different judgment.

If the kingdom is to come these temporal conditions must
be changed, and if the church is the agency for the bringing
in of the kingdom, it must have 'a direct part along the line of
certain clear-cut moral issues, although they work out in
material things. It will not be enough that the church shall
educate the individual that he maj^ go out and be of value in
organizing and carrying on the conflict in these lines; and
such has come to be the judgment and such is the declaration
of the leaders in our church life, and such has been the declara-
tion of our own great council gatherings.

In 1908 at Philadelphia at the first gathering of the Federal
Council of Protestant Churches a declaration of principles
touching the relationship of the church to the great industrial
problems of the time was made. At Boston in 1910 our
National Council adopted this declaration as its own. We
have in the years since proposed to develop this program in
our church life. We cannot let this hour go without making
reference to that program as one vital in the thought of this
time. Our people have not yet all known that this declaration
of principles has been made. They have not yet in very large
measure undertaken to be loyal to this declaration. We have
not yet been heroic enough to make the sacrifice it calls for
or to do the deeds it demands.

This declaration as made by our National Council contains
fourteen separate paragraphs. There is not time to do more
than to refer to them. The first is: " To us it seems that the
churches must stand for equal rights and complete justice for
all men in all stations of life."

Well, we have been getting on some along the lines of the
ideals taught us by the Master in these last days. We set
out since this war began to raise our hundred milUons for the
Red Cross and raised much more. We started out to raise
three million dollars for the use of the Young Men's Christian
Association for their war work among the soldiers in camp and
on the fronts and in the prisons, and we raised five million.
We have been giving large sums in these days, calling for a

380 THE moderator's address [1917

considerable amount of personal sacrifice. We have been
willing to take much credit to ourselves for this, but this
giving falls far short of fulfilling our first declaration. There
is something that is beyond charity — that is justice. Never
in the world will things be righted or the kingdom come if our
industrial relationships are so planned and our Hving together
in toil on such basis that we are unjust to one another. We
can never make it right if some of us give out of our unjustly
gotten profits in charity. The words of Amos at the feast in
Samaria, the words of Isaiah to the people of his time who
were unjust in their commercial dealings and in their in-
dustrial programs, apply yet to our times. I do not know
along what lines we must go to establish the time when there
is complete justice for all men in all stations of life, but I do
know that we have declared that we believe in that and we
have declared that the church must help to bring that about.
In how many of our churches have we tried to find out what
needs to be done in this direction? In how many have we
departed from our own programs to take up the new program,
or rather to add to them the new program — to take up the
research that we may find what needs to be done and then
heroically go about doing it? I suspect there are yet unnum-
bered men and women among us who find great satisfaction
in the old condition of things, who are willing to accept what
they get under present conditions, ease their consciences by
giving even to the tenth part, and yet are not willing to go
the whole way. Equal rights and complete justice for all
men in all stations of life — that means of course men of all
nations and men of all countries — are problems then as con-
cern the black and the yellow man within our own borders
which concern the people who have come to us from other
lands. Justice must be dealt to them. And what we plan
as a nation to do as we stand related to other nations is part
of the same program. We may not be willing to take our place
in the contest of the time between the Roman ideals and the
ideals of the Man of Gahlee, but our children will be, for the
contest is inevitable; and if we are to have the glory which
belongs to those who meet and solve the problem we must
be at it now.

These pronouncements in the second place declare for the

1917] THE moderator's address 381

right of all men to the opportunity for self -maintenance.
That is, the church as an organized body is determined to do
all that lies within its power to see that all men, and that
means of course beginning with childhood, have opportunity
for physical development and for mental development and for
moral development.

What unrest there is in our own time. In my own city
during these weeks there is a meeting of men who are em-
ployed in the raising of funds for the industrial contest.
There is on the other side the formation of unions, the leaving
of work, the suffering of the people.

Work was not given to man for punishment ; that he should
earn his hving by the sweat of his brow is not a condemnation
but an opportunity i6r finding of the way back to the best
things. Always the higher is developed through the right use
of the lower. The living tree finds its life in the dead inorganic
earth and in the air and sunlight. It forms these things into
the living organism. So it is through the meeting of the
issues of life in toil that the soul has its growth and character
is built. The farmer has the right to feel conscious not only
that he is producing his crops and his herds and flocks that he
may have profit out of them, but he has a right to the con-
sciousness that in the doing of this he is helping to produce
that for which the world has need, that it may be maintained.
The merchant in his business has the right to the conscious-
ness that he is not alone dealing in goods that he may get
wealth from it, but that he is as well helping to contribute to
mankind for their uses the things which they need. The
physician has a right to think not only of the fees which come
to him in his calling, but to live also in the consciousness of
the fact that if he is true therein, he is helping to alleviate the
suffering of men and prepare them for better living. And the
lawyer has a right in his profession not only to the income of
his calling, hut to the consciousness that he is working out the
means whereby justice is administered among men; it may be
that the processes work imperfectly, but nevertheless that he
is aiding in that regard.

There can be no right outcome so long as there is arming
upon the one side and upon the other. The victory of either
leads only to the oppression of the other. One does not hear

382 THE moderator's address [1917

much in the plans and programs of the one side of the contest
except declarations which concern their own rights and the
things they will have. One does not hear very much said
about the service to be rendered or the public to be blessed;
one does not hear enough on the other side concerning how
the great enterprises may be conducted so that out of it may
come justice to all and the better living and the larger oppor-
tunity. There has been legislation about these things. There
have been attempts by governments, state and national, to
do something; but in how large a way have we in any of our
churches considered this matter, and in how large a way have
we united in our churches in any community to get things
done? In what great way have we insisted that the solution
of the problem is to be based upon the teachings of the Great
Master? Until we have done these things we have been
false to our declarations.

These declarations also pledge the church to stand for the
abolition of child labor, for regulation of the conditions of
toil for women, for the suppression of the sweating system,
for the reduction of the hours of labor, for a living wage as a
minimum in every industry, for the equitable division of the
products of labor and for the abatement of poverty. These
declarations should be placed in every one of our churches
where they may meet the eyes of young and old alike as the
Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes meet their eyes.
We must be willing to give time and thought to the study of
these questions. The great work world must understand that
we have not idly repeated words, but that we mean all that
we have said. I am not thinking merely of adding numbers
to church rolls; I am not thinking of merely filling audience
rooms and church building; I am thinking of the program
announced that the kingdom is to be established, and I am
interested that what we have said about that shall find its
way into our living.

I have heard somewhere of the loss of a ship at sea. The
life boats had been manned and the passengers had all left
the ship. There was room in the life boats for only two men
more. They called to the Captain and his mate to step in
and save their lives; but they motioned to the men below
them in rank — and they likewise to those of lesser rank than

1917] THE moderator's address 383

they, until at last two of the humblest men of all stepped into
the boat and were saved. What a loss, you say, that the
Captain and his mate, these choicest men, should be lost and
these men of lesser station saved! No, for these ranking men
lost their lives to save them, and the record of their deed shall
stand through all the years to help win the world to truly
heroic living, which is after all the only valuable life.

THE STRATEGY OF THE CHURCH IN
THE CRISIS OF THE WORLD

REV. CHARLES S. MILLS, D.D., MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY

What then shall one answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord
hath founded Zion, and in her shall the afflicted of his people take refuge. —
Isaiah I4 : 32.

What must we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesiis answered
and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he
hath sent. — John 6 : 28, 29.

The early chapters of the prophecy of Isaiah read hke a
tract for our times. Then, as now, a mighty empire terrorized
the world. To the lesser nations living under the menace
of the black cloud of war, never knowing when it might break
in destructive fury upon their heads, the prophet utters a series
of oracles. These are gathered by the greatest of interpreters
around three texts. Each is a picture. The first represents
the peoples like the sea lashed by a furious tempest. The
second depicts Zion as a rock unmoved amidst the storm and
on the rock a beacon light, while in the third a new continent
is marvelously rising out of the waters about the rock giving
fresh foothold for despairing humanity.

If these words had been written for this hour, they could
not more trenchantly suggest the strategy of the church for
the crisis of today. They are a challenge to our faith — amid
war-swept humanity the church a rock of refuge, bearing the
light of the world, while around it emerges the new age of
hope and faith, of liberty and love. The first essential of the
strategy of the church is faith in its resources and confidence
in its glorious commission to save the world.

How profoundly the desperate need reinforces the prophet's
challenge! The world has seemed rich and self-sufficient.
But in this golden age of the twentieth century, commanding
vast new physical resources which by all human logic should
add mightily to its 'power, it finds itself plunged in darkness
and deluged in tears and blood. The world, the prosperous
world, the proud world is seen to be what Jesus Christ tells
us it is, a world in desperate need. Who doubts today that
it needs to be saved?

384

1917] THE STRATEGY OF THE CHURCH 385

How shall it be saved? Not by force. The law of the
despot, that might makes right, in dimensions never seen be-
fore, has been weighed and found wanting. And political
statecraft and all imaginable secret intrigue, with the as-
sumption that the state is superior to the moral law, has been
weighed and found wanting. And human absolutism, the
blood of kings guarded as a precious treasure and their right
to rule called divine, has been weighed and found wanting.
And science, often exalted as supreme, has yielded itself as
the ally of destruction and, in and of itself, has been weighed
and found wanting. And international law, neutralizing a
little kingdom lying between two great nations that forever
it might be a bulwark against war, has been weighed and found
wanting. And religion with a private mark upon it, domesti-
cating God and in his name planning campaigns of cruelty,
has been weighed and found wanting.

What must we do that we may work the works of God?
Christ answers, " This is the work of God that ye beheve on
him whom he hath sent." That is, the crisis takes us back to
restate for our faith the program of Jesus as the only adequate
basis for the life of the world, and to note how these days
of ours prove afresh that its postulates must be the founda-
tion of the new age, since only in them may men live in free-
dom and in peace. The most effective strategy is to exalt them
in their supreme significance. . Let us, in brief terms, remind
ourselves what they are as Christ wrote them in letters of hght
on the background of a world in need.

/. The Conception of the Character of God.

We accept " Mr. Brithng's " conclusion, " Unless you
find God and are found by God you begin at no beginning
and you work to no end," and the later suggestion of Mr.
Wells that the world moves toward a day when there shall
be no kings, nor princes, but one great state and God over all.
But we must take a long step beyond that. It is not enough
to find someone whom we call God. We are compelled to
ask, who is the God whom you have found? In the presence
of a world torn and broken by powers that call themselves
Christian, one must ask whether the conception of God has
really been Christianized. As George Adam Smith points

386 THE STRATEGY OF THE CHURCH [1917

out, " It is not safe for men to exalt a deity to the throne until
they are certified of his character. The vision of mere power
intoxicates and brutalizes, no less when it is hallowed by the
name of religion, than when it is blindly interpreted as physical
force. The chief thing for individuals, as for nations, is not
to believe that God reigneth so much as to know what kind of
God he is who reigneth."

And if we leap to the definition of God as love, it is pertinent
in the present crisis to ask whether we have really understood
what love is. Some seem to identify it with dove-like pas-
si veness before the challenge of truth and honor; a meek sub-
mission to attack upon our freedom. But love of the good
must be weak and insincere unless it carries with it hate of the
evil. Such hatred is not devilish but divine. If a man loses
capacity for righteous indignation he surrenders virile man-
hood. If God is incapable of wrath against evil he is un-
worthy of our worship. Retribution for defiance of love is
indelibly imprinted on the moral law, on the constitution of
man, on the history of the world, never more evident than in
the chapter now being written.

The militarist who trusts in loveless force has snapped
his finger at the benevolent philosopher who claims that love
is the greatest thing in the world, but he forgets that force is
never so powerful as when it is used by the hands of love, and if
God is love, and in the end only that which is God-like can
survive, then whatever is apart from love is doomed. Our
God, the God who is love, is a consuming fire. Jesus himself
blazes with wrath at the violations of love and invokes upon
them the eternal flame. As that noble leader whom we all
dehght to honor here (Dr. Gladden), wrote in the day of his
young manhood, so may each of us affirm, confident in the
power of the God of love:

" Fierce though the fiends may fight
And long though the angels hide,
I know that Truth and Right
Have the universe on their side."

//. The Conception of the Nature of Man.

Through the centuries Christ has been trying to teach men
that love, the only key to the divine character, is alone able

1917] THE STRATEGY OF THE CHURCH 387

to unlock the door of the human soul and to reveal its priceless
value. Wars to the death must continue until mankind are
willing to accept that truth. But they have never accepted
it. On a thousand fields men have been compelled to defend
their birthright. And the fight must go on until, scourged
by the failure to obey the teaching of Jesus, the nations learn
that this age-long war against man's inahenable gift of
freedom is utterly wrong and unite to end it.

Four-fifths of the world awakening to the fact that our
boasted civihzation has been only a thin veneer over murderous
greed, that still the instinct of the beast rages in human nature,
is now in arms to make liberty secure. We are determined
that no longer shall the international highways be like the
Jericho road, infested with robbers; that every nation, how-
ever small and weak, shall have the right to live its own life
in peace. Heroic Belgium made that clear forever.

And if the world is made safe for the weaker nation, so shall
it be made safe for the weaker man. Sociologists deplored
the war as setting back their anticipated victories, but God is
making the wrath of man to praise him. The man on horse-
back has been superseded. The common man is coming
to his own. He is taken out of his obscurity and put, so to
speak, in the centre of the universe. He is told that the issue
depends on him. He is never going back again to his old life.
He has a new sense of his stature. He is coming to a new day
of liberty and power.

We often sing,

" When wilt thou save the people?
O God of mercy, when?
Not kings and lords, but nations.
Not thrones and crowns, but men! "

and we are-living to see our question answered.

///. The Conception of the Goal of Humanity.

The world has thought of Christ's vision of the kingdom of
light and of love as a counsel of perfection. But however the
centuries may roll before that kingdom is fully reaUzed,
the spirit of it is dictating the covenants of the nations. Into
the minds of men is creeping what Matheson calls " The

388 THE STRATEGY OF THE CHURCH [1917

cosmopolitan consciousness of Jesus." Nearly twenty years
Ago he wrote, " The vision of the cross in high places had never
yet been seen. Nowhere had an empire wakened to the con-
viction that it was a servant for the common weal. And Jesus
said that without such a waking there could be nothing but
national tribulations."

Even America needed to learn that sign of the Son of man.
Up to this day priding herself upon her isolation, keeping it
among her sacred words that she was not to participate in
international alliances, she is now in that league which is
seeking to bring on earth the larger brotherhood of nations.
She can never go back into her condition of isolated neutrality
even if she wished to do so, and she ought not if she could.
The vision clears. We know more certainly than we ever
knew before that every race has its contribution to make to
the welfare of mankind. Underlying all the anguish of these
days the man who believes in the kingdom is buoyed up as by
a tidal wave of joy as he sees the signs of that coming kingdom.

" Watchman! What of the night?

— Beyond the war-clouds and the reddened ways,

I see the Promise of the Coming Days!

I see His Sun arise, new-charged with grace

Earth's tears to dry and all her woes efface!

Christ lives! Christ loves! Christ rules!

No more shall Might,

Though leagued with all the Forces of the Night,

Ride over Right. No more shall Wrong

The world's gross agonies prolong.

Who waits His Time shall surely see

The triumph of His Constancy;

When, without let, or bar, or stay,

The coming of His Perfect Day

Shall sweep the Powers of Night away; —

And Faith, replumed for nobler flight.

And Hope, aglow with radiance bright,

And Love, in loveUness bedight,

SHALL GREET THE MORNING LIGHT I "

But in giving herself to the exaltation of these postulates of
Jesus, what should be the spirit and method of the church in
this present crisis?

1917] THE STRATEGY OF THE CHURCH 389

Let THE Church Search Her Own Soul in Penitence

AND Confession.

We who are here gathered love the church beyond all words-
Our hope and faith have come to us out of the fountains of
her life. It is in love that we bid her search her heart. In
that spirit we ask, how far the dullness of the world in compre-
hending God, revealed in Christ, is due to the dimness of her
vision of him? If she had given of her men and means for
the promotion of the program of her Master any considerable
proportion of what she is now giving for the war, would not
these present bitter losses have been prevented? The serious
matter, as Oldham puts it, " Is not that the state of the world
has proved to be so bad, but that the Christian witness has
been so feeble."

Why is it that so often the church has impressed men as
being " unlike Christ "? Is it wholly because their eyesight has
not been clear? Has she borne witness in her own inner life
in an adequate degree to the glorious terms now written on
our national banner, liberty and justice and democracy?
Has she ever allowed the custom of the world to limit the
freedom of her speech? Has she ever so exalted the traditions
of the past that they have shut out the sunlight of the greater
day? Has democracy ruled her polity and her practice?
Has she carried over into her fellowship the social distinctions
of the outer world so that in her sanctuary the poor man felt
his poverty, and special privilege was accorded the man with
the gold ring and the fine clothing? Has she courted al-
liances with any power tainted with the law that might makes
right? Has she been complacent over the fact that there are
submarines in the ocean of trade sinking innocent craft with-
out warning and Zeppelins in the realm of high finance drop-
ping bombs upon unsuspecting women and children? Has
it been possible for men indifferent to social obligations to
listen to her message and hear nothing which stung the slum-
bering conscience into life?

In the present exposure of human " f rightfulness " the main
thing is not the sinner but the sin. Is the rest of the world
exempt from the evil which has brought forth such bitter
fruits? As Tagore puts it.

390 THE STRATEGY OF THE CHURCH [1917

" Whom do you blame, brothers? Bow yoixr heads down!
The sin has been yours and ours.
The heat growing in the heart of God for ages —
The cowardice of the weak, the arrogance of the strong,

the greed of fat prosperity, the rancour of the deprived,
pride of race, and insult to man —
Has burst God's peace, raging in storm."

Let THE Church Throw Her Power into the Holt
Cause now at Stake.

Let her thank God that she has Hved to see the day when the
President of the United States " dipped his pen in the sun-
Ught " and while the world rang with a new note of freedom
applied to our country the Christian principle, " None of us
liveth to himself," and sent her forth to forget herself in order
to save the world.

Let her reaUze that the standard of America is baptized in
the spirit of the program of Jesus. " We have no selfish
ends to serve; we desire no conquest. We seek no indemnities
for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We shall be satisfied
when the rights of mankind have been made as secure as the
faith and freedom of the nations can make them."

Let her send her sons — pure-souled, high-minded, trained
from earliest childhood in the Christian conception of God
and of man, where such men count for most. We have
shivered with horror over the temptations of the troops.
And well we may. We have called on the church to make sure
that their souls had as great care as their bodies, and God help
us to follow up that call incessantly; but we ought to add, in
no less earnest terms, confidence in these boys, blood of our
blood, bone of our bone, who, clad in the armor of God, will
go through the war, unscathed by these assaults of the devil.
Christ has no nobler soldiers in all the far-flung battle-line of
the Kingdom. As Nehemiah Boynton, par excellence a man
among men, wrote me the other day from his khaki tent at
Fort Hamilton, " I thought I knew men, but I am learning
new lessons every day." From the nearly fourscore who have
gone out from our own fellowship in Montclair, I am getting
such words of Christian hope and faith as I have never had in
greater degree from any other source. They form a fresh
chapter in Christian evidences. Thank God we may send

1917] THE STRATEGY OF THE CHURCH 391

such men to the front to carry by their Hves the message of
their Lord.

Let the church magnify to the last degree the ministry of
comfort for those at home. Let her make herself more than
ever " the house by the side of the road " where abide those
who seek by all friendly offices to help one another and the
world. As in the elder days one pursued by the enemy could
flee to the altar from which the pursuer dared not tear him,
so in these days let troubled hearts find the house of prayer
the refuge from their fears; there let brave souls renew their
courage so that passing through the valley of bitterness they
find it transformed into a place of over-flowing springs.

Again let the voice of the church be heard in holding our
country and her allies to the noble idealism which they have
taken as their objective. Let us remind ourselves that often
we have failed to understand how much these ideals demand of
us and make sure that with an open mind we go forward under
the larger heavens that are so soon to arch over our heads and
that we are ready to make those new definitions of Hberty and
justice and democracy which that wide horizon will compel.

Let the church earnestly maintain the ideals of the civic
and social life while the stress of war conditions tempts men
to abate their loyalty and minimize the result. For example,
in the name of our great war philanthropies there have been
given in succession over our country certain Sunday athletic
exhibits tending to break down the Christian observance of
the Lord's Day. Under the impulse to help a noble cause the
announcement of such an exhibition was made for last Sunday
in my own city, covering the entire day and without thought
of its deeper implication. The instant protest by the ministers
was met by the assurance that the program would be carried
out, but when prompt and vigorous action, couched in courte-
ous terms, was taken by the churches and it was realized how
deeply the Christian people of the community were grieved,
the appointment was cancelled. Let the church be alert,
not in puritanical narrow-mindedness but with Christian
vision, lest we find ourselves at the war's end with our ideals
shattered and the foundations of our Christian civilization
undermined.

And again let the church take the lead in preparinjg the way

392 THE STRATEGY OF THE CHURCH [1917

for the peace of forgiveness. We feel, and justly, that un-
measured wrongs have been done us. How shall we treat them
in the hour of victory? Are we to keep the blood-lust of
the old Indian tribes or the vengeful spirit of the feuds of the
Kentucky Mountains? Let us remember the word, "Vengeance
belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord." Just as
I was leaving home — following a notable gathering of our
women, where I had been speaking briefly — a member of
the church, American born but of German parentage, came to
my office with the tears streaming down her face to wring my
hand and speak a word from the depths of her soul. While her
frame shook with her sobs, she said: " I was born here, but
I am deeply attached to the home of my people. Germany
has had everything, but she is not the land my father and my
mother loved. She has been untrue to her trust, but the dross
will be burned away and the pure gold will remain." We share
her faith and therefore, as the awfulness of the war burns its
way the further into our consciousness, we sturdily refuse to
adopt the evil methods of our foe, to answer hate with hate,
to call for reprisals visiting like with like, that when, at last,
the Council Board shall meet to negotiate peace, Christ shall
preside there. Only so can the wounds be healed.

Let THE Church Make Sure that Her Message

Rings with Reality.
The greatest power of Christianity is that it is true. It
conforms to the facts. If it ever seems to be remote, it is
because its essence has not been made manifest, or has been
misunderstood. We are told that the church often stands
between the man and the Master. Is it true? We were told
a generation ago by Carlyle that though the speaking man had
no one to compare with him in influence, he had wandered
terribly from the point and needed to take the old spectacles
off his nose and discover what the real Satan and soul-devour-
ing, world-devouring devil now is. This world crisis strips
away unreality, lays bare the unsatisfying nature of any rehg-
ion which you need to go to the temple to find; calls men to
make all outward religious expression measure up to the
quahty of what " A Student in Arms " calls the " inarticulate
religion " of service and sacrifice.

1917] THE STRATEGY OF THE CHURCH 393

Let me put this in the concrete. Our soprano soloist, a
noble-hearted woman with the power to sway great assemblies
by the gift of her song, went across the sea this summer to
minister by her gift among the troops. We see her one Sun-
day in a large convalescent camp in England. A chaplain
is coming for a service. The men dread it for they feel his
message lacks reality to them. One of them boasts that he
has become an atheist. The chaplain comes, delivers his
pitiful word, which only serves to arouse the antagonism of the
men. When he has gone, they crowd around her asking her
to sing to them some of the dear old hymns; and so she sings.
She had, I think, never spoken a word in public before, but
suddenly she finds herself, without premeditation, ceasing her
songs and beginning to talk of the Christian life, saying, " I
know nothing of the technique of theology; there are many
things about religion of which I am ignorant and of which
it would be well if I had knowledge, but of one thing I am
sure, the heart of Christian faith is true; no man can lead
the right life without a great example. If you can tell me of
any one more worthy to follow than Jesus Christ I will follow
him. He came to live for you in the very spirit in which you
seek to live for one another and your country." She ends her
simple words amid deep feeling and then asks, " Shall I sing
again? " When the man who had boasted he was an atheist
looked up with tears in his eyes, saying: "Sing, 'Nearer my
Ood to Thee.' " The real word found his heart. And as they
Rang, she afterwards wrote, "I think we felt there was Someone
else with us."

O brethren, does our word ring with the reality of the living
Christ? Does any one lose the way to him in the elaboration
of our creeds or the conventionality of our services? Do we
make it clear that our rehgion is not a thing of words but of
personal faith in him, friendship with him, the holy purpose
to grow in his likeness, to reincarnate his spirit and to bring
on his Kingdom?

" Not what but WHOM I do believe,

Not what but WHOM!

For Christ is more than all the creeds,
And his full life of gentle deeds
Shall all the creeds outlive.

394 THE STRATEGY OP THE CHURCH [1917

Not what I do believe,
BUT WHOM !
Not what,
But WHOM!"

Let THE Church Lead the World to Think in the
Terms of Humanity.

Men have been thinking in the terms of the nation. Now
they are coming to see the truth, " above all nations is human-
ity," and they are trying to use a new faculty, the international
mind. But they need to be educated before they can accept
for themselves the words of Edith Cavell as she went to her
martyrdom, " I see now that patriotism is not enough; I
must die without hatred or bitterness toward any one."

What a field for the church! Its missions have taught it
the alphabet of the new language. They are truly called a
" campaign for international good will." Their value in
disarming national prejudice, avoiding "international com-
plications, weaving international friendships is simply beyond
estimate. Their volume must be made more ample that we
may lead the nations in that knowledge of one another, that
love for one another which shall prepare the way for the new
age.

But if the church is to ask the world to cultivate the inter-
national mind let us beware lest men point at her the finger of
scorn and say, " Physician heal thyself! Make your rehgion
large enough to bear witness to your exhortation. Think
no longer in terms of sect but of the kingdom." The world
rings with a new sense of international federation. We are
making leagues that bind the nations heart to heart for the
end of war and the enforcement of peace. Men of widely
variant races are drawn together by mighty cords and forget
differences in union for a great common end. Shall the church
lag behind? Shall not the mighty objective silence the quibble
over minor differences?

Further, as we are saying that each nation must be allowed
to live its own life, not only for its own sake, but for what it
has to bring to the life of humanity — so may we under-
stand that Christian unity is to come, as was said long ago,

1917] THE STRATEGY OF THE CHURCH 395

by " the principle of comprehension rather than that of com-
promise, or exclusion, or absorption." Let us ask, with
Huntington, of the various families of the faith, not " of
how much are you willing to bereave yourselves for harmony's
sake, but of how much stand you possessed which you con-
sider worth contributing to the common fund?"

Let THE Church Live in the Spirit of the Cross.

We have called the day of the early Christian church the
great age of the martyrs. But it is now superseded. The
world is ringing today as it never rang before with their
challenge. Never did humanity seem so divine. Men and
women who had been content to squeeze the juice out of life
for their own delectation, have given themselves to save the
world.

Coningsby Dawson writes from the front, " Men wear the
crown of thorns as though it were a cap-and-bells." Hankey
cries, " I have seen with the eyes of God. I have seen the
vanity of the temporal, and the glory of the eternal; I have
despised comfort and honored pain; I have understood the
victory of the cross. O death, where is thy sting? " Alan
Seeger, that royal young American enrolled in the foreign
legion at the first onset of the war, writes,

" I have a rendezvous with death
On some scarred slope of battered hill

And I to my pledged word am true
I shall not fail that rendezvous."

Can the church lead an age of martyrs? She can if the
spirit of the cross rules her life. She will not, she cannot, fail.
Yonder from massacred Armenia comes a witness. Look
into her face and sit at her feet and believe the world is full of
such as she. She is the daughter of a minister, highly re-
spected in her town. The Turks have tried every means their
ingenuity could devise to persuade her to become a Moslem.
Her husband is dead, her children scattered, one little boy
alone remains. They threaten to take him from her, taunting
her, " You will become a Moslem now. You will not leave
this fine httle boy." When this martyr of today taking her

396 THE STRATEGY OF THE CHURCH [1917

son by the hand replied, " I love my child, but I love Christ
more. I give him not to you but to God."

How near that is! It is not in Turkey only. It is here.
How many a mother has bidden her son farewell, as he sets
his face toward perils which no man can measure, repeating
in her heart, "I love my son, but I may not keep him for myself;
I give him to God for the world's sake and for Christ's sake."

How shall we best celebrate the Pilgrim Tercentenary?
By heeding the call of the blood. We have been rereading the
story of our origin. How near to us seem the days of Scrooby
and Leyden and Plj^mouth! We see the Pilgrim leaving home
and fatherland to make his way to the untamed wilderness,
challenging us to be true to our heritage and play the man.
As he crossed the sea that he might have the freedom of his
faith, so he calls us once more to cross the sea, more deadly
in its peril than when the little Maijflower was buffeted by the
storm, that in that far land where the battle rages we may
strike a blow with all our power to save the gift of freedom,
and that he may not have died in vain.

As we hear his challenge we reply:

" God, who gavest men eyes

To see a dream;
God, who gavest men heart

To follow the Gleam;
God, who gavest men stars

To find heaven by;
God, who madest men glad

At need to die;
Lord, from the hills again

We hear thy drum!
God, who lovest free men,
God, who lovest free men,
God, who lovest free men.

Lead on! We come."

EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES

Since it is impossible to print in full all the addresses de-
livered at the Council, to say nothing of those given at meet-
ings of the Boards, the editors have included the entire text
of none save the Council sermon and the address of the retiring
Moderator. The following extracts are from addresses given
at the Council in order to preserve some of the more signifi-
cant utterances and especially with the hope that these may
be useful both for reference and for quotation in public
address. Needless to say the amount quoted from one
address or another implies no estimate of its relative impor-
tance but is related either to the nature of the theme, the
readiness with which the treatment yields to quotation, or
both.

PILGRIM UTTERANCES IN THEIR PRESENT DAY
APPLICATION

Progress and Permanence

BY rev. ROBERT E. BROWN

The consciousness of change is an outstanding and often a distressing
feature of the reUgious experience of the present time.

Side by side with the sense of change there is that primitive and profound
conviction that " God's in His heaven " — " He is the same, yesterday,
today and forever." Man's conception of Him may change with every
generation, He abideth substantially the same.

The superficial critic of the new order is all too apt Ughtly to overlook
this conviction of permanence that of necessity must exist or else man
would cease to worship and the church would be compelled to close its
doors. Both faith and reason demand an element of stability, and with-
out it no system of theology could more than momentarily survive.

It is true that less is said today of salvation as a gift purchased by the
blood of Jesus than was said in previous generations, not because that
conception has no truth, but because it is only one side of the Gospel and
can be easily over-emphasized. . . . We are saved not simply by watching
and extoUing his sacrificial life but by a hfe of active self-giving on our
part inspired by his example.

We hear in our time very little bald assertion concerning the absolute
and literal inspiration of the Scriptures, nevertheless the Bible is printed
more extensively, read more widely and appreciated more genuinely as to
its literary, ethical and ideal quaUties than ever before.

If less is said today of occasional miracle than formerly, more is said of
the laws of God discoverable in nature, in the body and in the soul, which we

397

398 EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES [1917

defy at our peril, and which we may use for the advance of industry,
health and ideaUsm.

Change is not annihilation. , . . Change is the order of the universe.

There is a sense in which even truth changes. Not only does our knowl-
edge of truth change from age to age as investigations are pushed into
fields hitherto unexplored, but truth itself grows. Truth is not as large
today as it will be tomorrow for tomorrow's experience has not arrived. . . .
Whatever definition of truth we finally accept it must be one that will take
into consideration that truth includes the totality of experience and that
experience is cumulative.

Through deep and thoroughgoing changes progress in thought, character
and rehgion is attained. We must accept it as God's ordained method in
leading us to fuller truth and richer experience.

We have advocated change because we have been compelled by the
evidence produced to make a readjustment which should be more in line
with facts. . . . We commit a serious historical error when we forget that
this inward compulsion has been operative in the field of theology even
from the first.

We cannot do our age a greater injustice than to assert that it has been
carried ofif its feet by a passion for change and that it has lost all contact
with the permanent elements of the Christian faith. Change cannot
ehminate God, nor destroy the essential Gospel picture of Jesus. Change
carmot dispel the conviction that the moral conscience is a voice out of the
eternal.

God's word is more than the Bible, it is more than the revelation that
came through the Son of Man, it is the total revelation that God has made
and is making in nature, history, society and the human soul.

Our theology is never absolute, it is always provisional. . . . We have
now had a generation of theological upheaval in which change has been
emphasized to an extreme degree. We can also delineate certain great
fundamental principles upon which we can erect the theology for the
generation to come.

These outstanding principles are as follows:

The Primacy of Experience

The Rights of Reason

The Consistency of Nature

The Unity of History

The Universahty of Religion

The Progressiveness of Revelation

The Authority of Conscience

The Test of Actual Life

The Limitations of Knowledge ■* 6J ti

The Necessity of Faith •;. ;..-;' J

The Value of Personality

The Legitimacy of Hope

We Ought to Defend our Lawful Possessions if We

Are Able

by rev. frank l. moore

In its common acceptance Puritanism impUes orthodoxy, conventionaUty,
asceticism, but a just estimate shows that the real Puritan was a revolu-
tionary of the most radical type. Says an acute social observer, " Of all
extremists of various types with whom I am acquainted, there is not one

1917] EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES 399

who lives in antagonism to his conventional contemporaries on so many
points as did the Puritan of his day."

When the arm of unjust authority began to reach across the sea, he
calmly formulates the statement, " We ought to defend our lawful pos-
sessions if we are able."

That their lawful possessions were worth fighting for was their great
affirmation and their great contribution to the cause of Uberty throughout
the world.

If we train our children to take orders, to do things simply because they
are told to, and fail to give them confidence to act and think for themselves,
we are putting an almost insurmountable obstacle in the way of overcoming
the present defects of our system and of estabhshing the truth of democratic
ideals.

To stifle speech is to tie down the safety valve. Nothing gives greater
concern in a democracy than the refusal of citizens to discuss the great
questions of the day.

The system that permits a company to not only own all the tools of
industry but also the land, homes, public buildings — everything — has
within itself the elements of its own destruction.

The Right Hand or Fellowship

BY REV. EDWIN H. BYINGTON

In all our faith and forms it would be difficult to find a phrase more
pecuharly our own than the RIGHT HAND OF FELLOWSHIP. . . .
The Roman hierarchy does not offer it to the novitiate. Episcopacy has
not embodied it in its ritual. The Methodists, the Presbyterians, the
Baptists and others do e.xtend a welcome, but the Right Hand of Fellow-
ship, as we use it, has no abiding place in their forms. Its appearance on a
program stamps the occasion as Congregational.

In 1669, Morton, describing the induction of the first pastor and teacher
into their offices in the Salem church in 1629, says that Governor Bradford
and others from Plymouth, who intended to be present, " coming by sea
were hindered by cross winds that they could not be there at the beginning
of the day; but they came into the assembly afterward and gave them the
right hand of fellowship."

This expression has attained such distinction, not by chance, but be-
cause it rings so true to our nature. . . . What we really are is a Christian
Fellowship.

FriendHness is good but fellowship is much more. . . . Friendliness
cheers, encourages, may even inspire, but it stops short of real cooperation
and achievement. The nature of fellowship, on the other hand, is to move
on into cooperation for the attainment of the supreme end in view.

The present marked tendency in Congregationalism to coordinate our
varied interests is not imperihng our Fellowship, but is its natural develop-
ment. . . . There is no need of being fearful lest fellowship on being or-
ganized will be transmuted into authority. The barberry hedge may
accomplish the results for which a barbed-wire fence exists but that does
not make it a barbed-wire fence. . . . Let us cease being afraid of ourselves
and of that name which is our birth-right! Let us call ourselves THE
CONGREGATIONAL FELLOWSHIP and dare to be aU that a Fellow-
ship should be.

400 EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES [l9l7

The Foundation of Authority is Laid in the Free
Consent of the People

BY rev. dan F. BRADLEY

Dignified, nervous, vigorous in speech and action — with a tremendous
personal force, well controlled — Thomas Hooker of Hartford is a full-
sized saint in our Congregational calendar.

To establish the town of Hartford was a sufficient distinction for one man
in one lifetime. But to establish permanently a tradition and organization
of freedom in a great Commonwealth was a still greater distinction. And
finally to utter boldly the doctrine that " the foundation of all authority
is laid in the free consent of the people" — and to get that idea so moving
in the minds of men that all denjocracies since his time have depended upon
that dictum for their justification, is the greatest distinction of all.

Hooker did not fully understand the implications of his doctrine, nor
did he or his successors ever carry out to the logical conclusion this pregnant
principle.

Hooker's maxim ought to be interpreted as meaning that while in your
own conduct you follow the voice of conscience, in prescribing and limiting
the conduct of other people in the mass, you must have the consent of
these people themselves. . . . Democracy can never properly limit the
freedom of the individual except as that freedom encroaches upon the
happiness of the whole group.

Our brave boys on land and sea are going to help rebuke the rape of
Belgium, and we must see this war through, but shall we have democracy
here? Will we be able to think freely and speak freely again? Will it
still be necessary for us to draft our men to garrison the conquered lands of
Europe, which Theodore Roosevelt has already divided? Will big business
now governing us and levying taxes by high prices upon us let go of our
throats then?

THE CHURCH AND THE COLLEGE: HOW CAN
THEY KEEP TOGETHER?

The General Situation as to Higher Education under
Denominational Auspices

BY rev. ROBERT L. KELLY

The denominational college now can make the best case in its history.

A fundamental element of strength in the denominational college is its
age. It has been almost three centuries since the first denominational
college was founded. During that time it has made a place for itself in
the affections of the people.

The state institutions have had a broadening effect on denominational
education. The colleges have become stronger as they become less narrow.
They have given up their sectarianism and have become Christian.

The churches now have three quarters of a billion invested in their
institutions of higher learning.

Within the past four years the total increase in e ndowments of our col-
legej has been almost thirty millions per year.

1917] EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES 401

A surprisingly large proportion of the students in any institution
(about 50 per cent.) come from within fifty miles of the institution. The
day of heavy migration towards the east, unaccompanied by a counter-
migration toward the west is forever past.

The development of the American high school within the past few decades
is one of the wonders of the world of education. . . . While the popula-
tion and school enrolment has each doubled in thirty-five years, high school
enrolment has increased twelve times, and colleges and universities have
grown about 300 per cent. each.

Denominational education now has its greatest opportunity. The
most stupendous task of all times calls to men with the highest equipment.
... It is for the Christian college to prepare these leaders for the new era.

The Church and the University

BY rev. LLOYD C. DOUGLAS

Any church that goes on record by word and deed as sympathizing
with the general aims of modern scientific truth-seekers can secure as large
results here in relation to the amount of energy invested as are to be ex-
pected of religious work in any community.

Students and faculty people in state universities are becoming more
friendly to organized religious efforts, not because they have changed their
state of mind, but because the churches have demonstrated their willing-
ness to adapt their processes to fit modern need.

Students should not be pauperized in their religious life by being regaled
constantly with brilliant sermons and religious addresses by celebrated
speakers, nor fed up, in their student life, on a homiletic diet which cannot
be offered later in their experience.

The problem of the readjustment of the student when he leaves the
university to go out into business life in the normal community is often
more serious than the problem of his readjustment from the so-called
unemancipated home church, to fit the church at the university.

The typical university student does not relish the idea of being regarded
subnormal, supernormal or abnormal. He wishes to be considered a
part of human society in good and regular standing and asks no special
privileges or extraordinary treatment.

The state universities are doing their full share in sending out young
men and young women into professional religious work and fully equipping
manj' others to serve intelligently as laymen.

From the Point of View of the College

BY rev. JAMES A. BLAISDELL

I believe that the Christian college exists as the instrument and servant
of the church. ... Our colleges are not merely educational institutions
with which rehgious influences should be associated. I beheve that they
should be themselves the organized and evident expression of those influ-
ences. . . . This inevitably involved, as it seems to me, the pohcy that no
man shall remain upon our faculties who is not spiritually wholesome and
that those who are set in the most vital positions of the organization should
be particularly men and women of Christian influence.

402 EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES [1917

So far as I am aware, the church has pretty much given over its old co-
operation with the Christian college in the prayerful recruiting of its best
for the high calling of the Christian teacher.

Looked at thus a college is a very perilous place, particularly when we
reaUze that it is set at the time in hfe when the conserving forces are at
their lowest and the lust for freedom at its highest. Well, what can you
do? The solemn thing is that you can do nothing infallibly. You know
that the winds will bear some far. Pastors will say: " My boys were lost
in the storm of college days." Nevertheless it is our faith that around and
through all this period of storm and stress there can be created an environ-
ment which shall beat with the ingenuity and -heart of a great Christian
father. You can seek to make the college display the heart of the Divine
Father.

In some such way I plead for a study, a real study of the service now
being rendered by our colleges. May we not somehow gain the assurance
that certain men of weight and universal confidence do know somewhat
intimately and can speak advisedly regarding our denominational adven-
tures in college work, and that in turn our colleges have thus some assurance
of such a reasonable measure of wider insight and co-operation as the
communion shall be pleased to afford?

I know the futihty of multiplying machinery, but it is my judgment that
some sort of a special Commission on College Education could render a
most opportime and important service just at this time.

I beheve in the possibility of societies of Christian scholars, munificently
resourced and yet splendidly and loftily loyal, and I believe in them for the
same reason that I believe in the possibility of a genuine Christian church
holding command over vast resources. And I beheve in each, because I
believe in the possibility of an ultimate Christian society, privileged with
— but uncorrupted by — the wealth of the globe. With such trusts is
God pleased to honor us. With such responsibilities does He give us chal-
lenge!

THE EFFECTIVELY ORGANIZED CHURCH

The Use of the Parish House

by rev. charles e. merriam

" The Use of the Parish House " means in general the distinction be-
tween a church which uses its property only for worship, reUgious education
and an occasional social, and one which tries to be the church of the open
door on seven days a week and enter as deeply as possible into the social,
recreational, athletic and fellowship life of its people.

This is not anything revolutionary or radical, in fact, except for differing
conditions, it is a return to older standards. . . . Our Puritan ancestors
were more reverential than we, but they used their meeting houses for town
hall, fort, school and storage place for powder and guns. . . . The pulpits
in addition to exhorting the souls of men, tried to determine their politics,
regulate their government and disseminate the knowledge of national and
world affairs which is now received from papers and reviews.

Fortunately, worship, the one function retained in any adequate measure
by most churches, is and must always remain the fundamental purpose of
any worthy reUgious organization.

1917] EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES 403

Another misfortune attending the pathway of the " worship-only church"
is its almost utter failure to meet a great social hunger of most of our
communities.

Unless a person has a very vital church consciousness, he will not feel a
strong personal attachment to any church to which he is not bound by
strong personal ties. ... No church has properly gauged its own success
by merely counting the members within its walls. To fully know where it
stands it must also count the people within its district that never enter its
door. That test will keep us all humble and will perhaps make us both
willing and anxious to use all possible methods of appeal and approach.

Amusements are right or wrong according to their natiu-e, not according
to their location. Whatever may be legitimate amusement in a Christian
home is not made illegitimate by being transferred to a Christian church.

Our greatest moral enthusiasms run along the Unes of practical service
to all lands of need. It is the church that has furnished the motive and
most of the money and workers of the various philanthropic agencies. . . .
It is unfortunate, however, that in the minds of many people that con-
nection is not clear and the practical results of worship are obscured.

The individual church under present conditions is not fitted to supplant
or rival the specialized activities of most of these agencies of social service.
The time is going to come, however, when we will have about a fifth as
many churches, each of them about twenty times as strong, with denomina-
tional superfluities cast into that outer darkness where they belong. Then
it will be possible to perform the Christian acts of mercy directly in the
name of the church and in the name of its Master.

The Unified Type of Woman's Organization

by mrs. charles f. chase

When the history of Congregationalism is written, there will be no
brighter pages than those devoted to the work of the women of our churches.

The great gift of our generation to the progress of mankind is organiza-
tion.

Two of the watchwords of this genius of organization are cooperation
and efficiency. These must become our watchwords in the work for our
Lord. . . . We must go about our Father's business with consecrated
abiUty and the businessUke methods learned in the exacting school of
secular life.

In the average Congregational church the work of the women is divided
into distinct and entirely separate organizations working for Home and
Foreign Missions and Local or so-called Church Aid.

The first requirement of the new order of things shall be ^ closer coopera-
tion among the various branches of the women's work.

The women of the church must be made to feel that thejr stand together
as one body, united and strong, capable of doing their share in every form of
service needed in the Kingdom.

We must safeguard the interests of the established work and must fully
recognize that to the average woman the appeal of one field of labor will
always be stronger than that of another. Each woman must be given the
opportunity to devote the best of her energies to her chosen field while
retaining a general interest in all.

404 EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES [1917

We feel that the two types of organization presented in this paper are
the best as yet known, elastic enough to meet varying conditions yet strong
enough to overcome the weaknesses of our present system. These two
types may be called the Division Plan and the Department Plan.

The Division Plan brings all the women of the church into one organiza-
tion equipped with regular officers and an executive committee. This
executive committee arranges the members of the organization into groups
or divisions, each division with its own leader and assistant leader. The
entire work of the church belonging to the women is then assigned, by
weeks or months as may seem best to the different divisions, which thereby
become responsible for all the united activities of the assigned period —
the programs, the practical work, the social and the religious gatherings.
. . . This form is especially well adapted to scattered country com-
munities and to city churches which draw their congregations from distant
parts of the city.

In the Department Plan we find the women all included in the general
organization as in the previous plan. But a strong staff of officers is put
in charge of each of the three great departments of the work, the home
mission, the foreign mission and the local or church work. The Execu-
tive Committee is composed of the usual corps of officers and in addition
the chairmen of these large departments.

It is most earnestly to be desired that if any membership fee" is charged
it shall be so small that no woman shall feel it impossible for her to become
a member. Some societies consider the fact of church membership the
only requirement for full membership in the woman's organization.

One of the greatest advantages of both these plans is the fact that they
make it easier to select one day of the week as the woman's church day.

Both of these plans call for more women to hold office and carry re-
sponsibUities. Many women who will utterly refuse a prominent office will
accept a position in a department or a division and gradually receive the
training which wiU give her confidence to assume larger responsibihties
later.

Where Have We Arrived in the Matter of Young
People's Organizations?
by rev. ernest bourner allen

The situation with reference to the work of the Society and of our young
people has been summarized by Dr. Herring. " About 3,200 Congrega-
tional churches last year reported young people's societies. They were of
various kinds, not including organizations of boys nor intermediate and
junior Christian Endeavor Societies. Their total membership was 134,000.
These figures are larger than those of the years 1911-1914, and about the
same as those of 1915. They are, however, distinctly below the figures
of the early years of the present century. Tliis fact, as well as the funda-
mental importance of the subject, ought to set us thinking."

In the 3,200 Congregational churches with some young people's organiza-
tions they are often left to their own devices. These, while not wicked,
are sometimes xmfruitful. The tragedy is that we have given them so little
oversight and help. It is only a few years ago that the editor of a leading
young people's paper sent out questions to over 1,800 representative pastors
inquiring about young people's work. " What plan," he asked them,

1917] EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES 405

" have you for directing and encouraging your society? " Out of nearly
1,700 replying, 243 had some plan and 1,420 had no plan. If this appaUing
and indicting proportion holds in all our young people's societies, then
one-seventh have some sort of pastoral leadership while six-sevenths have
none. What can we expect in lay service from the next generation if our
church youth today are blindly beating their way in the dark to a social,
educational and Christian program? We are not yet ready to criticize
any organizalion when we have not yet set our hands to help.

In his classic monograph on " The Religious Education of the American
Citizen," Dr. Peabody emphasizes three principles which must direct
religious education. There must be reaUty, personaUty and democracy.
By these tests Christian Endeavor is a noble instrument in the hands of
intelligent and sympathetic agents. And if we take account of the three
typical religious attitudes — impulsive, regulated or self-emancipating —
which Coe discusses in his book on " The Psychology of Religion," we find
the remarkable fruitfulness and history of Christian Endeavor is further
vindicated by the religious psychology and philosophy of our day.

If we need " an organization of young people in every church — demo-
cratic in nature — which gives opportunity for self-expression — which
is an organization fundamentally religious in nature — with a broad
program of thought and effort — and possessing denominational loyalty
and interdenominational vision," where can it more conveniently, con-
sistently and fruitfully be found than in Christian Endeavor? Through
it the fine program of the Tercentenary Commission can be utihzed and
made pregnant with power. Through it we can press the great moral
reforms to which the church is committed. Through it we can cooperate
in the cultural and personal evangeUsm which extend the kingdom.

FACTORS IN THE CREATION

OF A CONGREGATIONALISM WITH A NATIONAL

DISTRIBUTION, OUTLOOK AND INFLUENCE

Our Churches and ScftooLs Among the White People of

THE South and Their Bearing upon the National

Character of Congregationalism

BY rev. frank e. Jenkins

Congregationahsm, in the opinion of the New England people of those
early days, was especially adapted to a fine grade of intellect, character and
spiritual attainment. It was just the thing for New Englanders but condi-
tions beyond theHudson were too woolly for its success. . . . So Congrega-
tionahsts, in their conceited modesty, built two thousand Presbyterian
churches.

Among the white people of the South there is an incomparable field for
church distribution from a national outlook backed by national influence.
... In the name of the most magnificent opportunity for helpful distribu-
tion in America, I summon you to a real national outlook and to the exer-
tion of an influence that the South needs more thaft it does anything else
in its ecclesiastical and spiritual life.

406 EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES [1917

Four-fifths of the people of the South still live in the country. If we
are to reach the masses in the South we must go to the country where
they are.

There is a great and most important field for CongregationaUsm in the
growing cities of the South. . . . Within ten years there will be a strong
Congregational church in every considerable city of the South, and that
not from a sectarian or denominational propaganda but from the awakening
forces now surging through the intellectual and spiritual life of the South.

The South, although the poorest section in the nation in actual develop-
ment today, is by far the richest in natural resources.

There is nothing in the nature of the South to compel CongregationaUsm
longer to be provincial in distribution as well as in outlook and influence.

A new spirit has been born in Congregationalism. ... It is looking
forward to a new world and in it a new nationahsm and in this a new
CongregationaUsm that wiU not shun the effort to make democracy safe.

Social Convictions Among Congregationalists
by rev. george l. cady

Let no man think to understand Congregationalism who does not
understand democracy. . . . Let no man dare to interpret Congrega-
tionaUsm who is not steeped in the spirit and message of democracy.

It is better for the people to make their own mistakes and pay the price
of their own failures than to be ever so efficiently ruled by others who are
irresponsible.

In the forefront we have stood resolutely for the separation of state and
church but with equal insistence have we stood for the continuous impact
of the church upon the state. . . . We believe that the pulpit is never so
orthodox or so evangeUcal as when it is attempting to make a better world
for the sons of God.

No duty devolves upon the modern church so great as to bend its energies
to cleanse the high and low places of our democracy of those forces and
powers which rob it of its fitness to displace th^ -autocracies who have cursed
the world too long. God said, " I am tired of kings," but not so tired as
the world would be of a democracy dominated by grafters, demagogues,
arrogant magnates and stupid walking delegates.

A democracy is not safe for the world which puts profits before human
life and products before manhood and six per cent, before childhood.

Slowly and surely our faith in reUgious democracy and poUtical democracy
as the faith of tomorrow has brought us to believe in the inevitableness of
Industrial Democracy, The goal is not only a church and a state but an
industrial organization of the people, by the people and for the people. . . .
The industrial struggle is, unconsciously perhaps, for a participation in the
administration rather than in the profits of industry. The question is
not to be settled by doling out an increase of wage here and there, now and
then, for democracy demands not that a man shaU have a full purse or a
full stomach but that he shall have the possession and the mastery of
himself.

Labor as a commodity spells anarchy — Labor as capital speUs de-
mocracy.

1917] EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES 407

THREE CENTURIES OF PILGRIM HISTORY

BY REV. WILLIAM E. BARTON

A distinquished teacher was accustomed to say to his students, " We
cannot too often remind ourselves that there once Hved such a man as
Socrates." In every great gathering of American people assembled to
consider the privileges and problems associated with their high heritage of
spiritual and political freedom, some one should rise and say, " There once
lived a company of men and women called the Pilgrims."

Democracy did not spring full-panoplied from the Puritan movement as
Minerva leaped from the brain of Jove; it was an evolution. The Puritans
could not afford to be theorists merely, they had wives and children to
support and they had to adopt theories which would work while they were
making a living.

The beginnings of the nineteenth century are significant to Congrega-
tionalism for these four things : First, a revival of religion, beginning in our
colleges and bringing a new spirit of consecration to the young manhood
of the churches. Secondly, and as a result of it, a world-vision of the duty
of the church, begotten not of the wisdom of the great leaders but of the
fine enthusiasm of young men in college, offering themselves on the altar
of foreign missionary ser\'ice. Thirdly, an expansion of home missionary
work among the new populations in the Great Northwest Territory, which,
by the ordinance of 1787, was baptized at the shrine of human freedom.
Fourthly, a liberalizing of doctrine within the orthodox churches, by
means of which Congregationalism saved itself from the spiritual deadness
of Unitarianism on the one hand, and an obsolete but persistent ortho-
doxy on the other, and by means of which through the Plan of Union it
inoculated even the Presbyterian church with the troublesome twin
blessings of the Anti-Slavery agitation and of New School theology.

The value of these three centuries to the present is in their spiritual
dynamic. Nothing could make us less worthy to be heirs of the Pilgrims
than to halt where they halted, and looking backward toward Plymouth
Rock to be turned into statues Uke Lot's wife. When we resolve our
civilization into its prime factors, we recognize the large contribution
which Congregationalism has made to modern thought and life, but our
present inquiry is, what contribution it has still to make? What is the
significance of these three centuries in terms of spiritual dynamic?

It is our task to make democracy worth saving. We never can attain
to perfect wisdom by counting the noses of fools — we never shall gain
the full significance of democracy in government by the mob — Freedom
is only one of the four corners of the temple of our republic. The other
three are Law, Morahty and Education.

Plymouth Rock is one of the milestones on the longer pilgrimage that
began as far back as when Abraham went forth at the command of God and
Moses led the people of God through the wilderness to the Promised Land.
There are other milestones at Runnymede, and Lexington, and Gettysburg,
and the Marne. The world is moving toward a future which may be
larger and better than anything we yet have courage enough to dream of
or pray for. Out of the clouds and darkness of the present hour, out of
the bloodshed and travail of a world bleeding well nigh to death, is coming
a new poUtical economy, a new theology, a new international law, a new
heaven and a new earth.

408 EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES [1917

FOUR HUNDRED YEARS OF PROTESTANTISM

BY DEAN CHARLES R. BROWN

The Protestant Reformation was a great religious movement and it was
also in the broadest and best sense political.

It was a revolt of the human against the ecclesiastical. It was one of
the days, of the Son of Man, and those who had eyes to see saw again the
veil of the Temple rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

Its four main ideas were these :

1. The right of direct and immediate access to God for every
soul with no sort of priestly mediation or ecclesiastical barrier
blocking the way. He is not far from anyone of us and whosoever
will may come.

2. Its doctrine of grace as opposed to the idea of salvation by
penance or by observances or by advances made from some treasury
of merit under the control of priests. By grace are ye saved through
faith and that not of yourselves for Eternal Life is the gift of God.

3. The authority of the Scriptures — not the decrees of councils,
nor the words of popes, nor the traditions of the elders, but the mind
of Christ as it Ues reflected supremely upon the pages of the New
Testament, this was to be the court of last appeal.

4. The right of private judgment which carries with it by im-
pUcation all that is contained in our modern program of political
and spiritual democracy. Every man by virtue of the fact that
he is a man has the God-given privilege of judging, of interpreting
and of applying all these truths of church and state to his own per-
sonal needs and to the needs of that society where he stands.

No form of rehgion can ever live and thrive by what it denies. It can
only live and thrive by what it affirms and incarnates. The habit of mind
which is critical rather than constructive, the faith which is merely pallid
and feeble in the distaste it shows for the coarser food upon which the
souls of men are fed, the whole mood which is more intent upon the limita-
tions of its fellows than upon the excellencies it can show in its own militant
bearing — no one of these is destined to conquer. They will never be
able to hold their own against the highly organized and resolute church
of Rome, to say nothing of winning that harder and more honorable
victory in subduing the world, the flesh and the devil.

We can all see that Protestantism is not today the mighty cable it was
meant to be, binding the freer nations to the throne of God. It has been
frayed out into so many strands that no single thread or group of threads
has in it the necessary fibre for the strain we would impose upon it. We
are not in our several communities, or in the nation as a whole, in a position
to furnish that competent and impressive moral leadership which the
complex life of this modern world so sorely demands.

We have no particular occasion as Congregationalists to stand off at
this point and thank God that we are not as other men are. We have not
I trust an undue measure of sectarian bigotry. But when practical schemes
for the consolidation of our Christian forces have been brought forward,
we have oftentimes shown ourselves amazingly reluctant. And when that
blessed day comes for the unifying of these fragments of our Christian
faith into a Universal Church, I have the feeling that one of the last con-
senting groups of those who profess to follow Him who prayed that we
might all be one, may possibly be our own high-minded, rock-bottomed,
1 iber ty-lo ving Congregationalists .

1917] EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES 409

Ten years ago it was a blunder for the scattered fragments of the Church
of Christ to be lacking in the highest possible spiritual efficiency, today it
is a crime. The world's dire need is summoning all the members of the
body of Christ to remember that they are one body in Christ and to act
together in a finer concert of power.

These are great years and there is much to be done. Let Protestantism
stand up straight — the ceiling is high. Let its eyes sweep the whole
horizon — the field of moral opportunity is the world. Let it make bold
to attempt the moral renewal of the life of the race! Let it go forward
conscious of its direct access to God, heartened to the core by its doctrine
of grace, exalting the Scriptures as furnishing the true norm of faith and
practice, and rejoicing in its right of private judgment. Let it go forward
to build and to rebuild better than it has built before and write chapters
in its history more glorious than any in its past.

THE CHURCH AND THE CHRIST OF THE NEW
DEMOCRACY

BY REV. FRANCIS J. VAN HORN

God is making all things new. Out of the crucible of war will come a
new world, a new democracy, a new church — but at the heart of all the
new will be the eternal Christ. The new democracy must have none of
the obvious faults of the old, no defects of race pride or prejudice, of creed
or caste, of social inequalities and injustice. And the new church must
have none of the divisions and party stripes and theological stigmas —
none of the formalism and coldness that makes the church of today so
inefficient. But we who are in the church of today must fashion that new
church — not the men who go to battlef ront, to camp and trench, but we
who stay at home will determine its character. Theirs is an abnormal
experience, ours should be genuinely normal. ... If we send our sons to
France, see to it that they find a vital religion, a warm and helpful church
when they come back, if God shall so will. . . . Ours is an age of colossal
sacrifice — let the church realize that His cross must go on before.

THE SPIRIT OF JESUS IN INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS

BY REV. G. GLEN ATKINS

There is no interest of the Christian church which does not suffer at
the hands of war, no humanitarian or social or spiritual concern that does
not rock in the ground swell of the world storm. . . . We cannot save
little sheltered regions of religion and church life here and there for the
spirit of Jesus while the unchristlike is supreme in the massive relation-
ships of humanity. Christianity is by the very spirit of it imperial. It
will never be secure untU it is supreme.

The Spirit of Jesus is present today in a warring world in the spirit of
sacrifice. No sacrifice is strange to Him. No suffering which seeks a
better world afien to His cross.

The war has passed already beyond the struggle for self — it is a struggle
for a hoher future or it is nothing. Even the sword has the cross for a
hilt and we have taken hold of the sword by the hilt of the cross.

410 EXTRACTS PROM ADDRESSES [1917

All that is happening today is a flaming sign that we have hitherto failed
to make the Christian spirit supremely operative in the world. When the
war is done the church will face the supreme responsibilities of the centuries.

The hope of any real betterment in our civilization of the future will rest
in the final supremacy of the spirit of Jesus in diplomacy, statecraft and
all points of international contact.

A transforming confidence in the power and validity of the Spirit of
Jesus must somehow be secured. . . . The great laws of brotherhood and
unselfishness are not yet international laws.

The task of the church is to define and illustrate the Spirit of Jesus.
His ideals do not commend themselves to the world as they ought because
the world does not understand their full meaning. . . . They represent
in their nobler manifestations the utmost of which humanity is capable
and are the very tempered steel of the soul. . . . The Spirit of Jesus is
love made militant, unwearied in patience, endless in resource and rich in
ethical qualities. . . . The peace which the Spirit of Jesus enjoins is not
the cowardly or complacent acceptance of things as they are but the
resolute endeavor to make things as they ought to be.

No great ideal has ever made its way in the world except at great costs
and a well nigh endless strife.

No barriers have ever been established which friendship and justice
have not in the end been able to cross. . . . The world will not be remade
save at sacrificial cost.

I do not see how any one can examine carefully and impartially the
deep-rooted and complex conditions which led up to the present world
fighting without seeing that the world is in the grasp of forces which auto-
matically produce tension which tend constantly to express themselves in
war.

Here is the paradox of twentieth century civilization. We are sin-
cerely desirous, multitudes of us, in every land and under every flag, of
making the Spirit of Jesus supreme and yet we are again and again de-
feated. . . . What is the reason? It must be that we are trjdng to express
the Spirit of Jesus through organic forms which are unchristian. . . .
There must be ways of living together which reinforce instead of always
weakening and sometimes defeating the Spirit of Jesus. We are under
bonds to find them out and to release them. . . . War is just the final
expression of the implicit hostilities of our social and industrial order.

We shall never have peace as long as industry is organized on a com-
petitive instead of a cooperative basis.

DEMOCRACY'S BROADENING VISION

BY REV. H. M. EDMONDS

You have now the leading men in religious thinking in America. . . .
Your system has surely justified itself by its fruit. There is in the South,
at the present time, somewhat of a movement toward independency. . . .
If you are going to serve that movement, you must put the emphasis in
your thinking and in your approach to it and its leaders, upon independency
rather than upon CongregationaUsm. . . . Your insignia must not be
memorial to a mere local manifestation, but to the eternal fact itself of the
sovereignty of the soul in its approach to God.

1917] EXTRACTS fROM ADDRESSES 4X1

Do not think that we do not love the negro also. I am not saying that
we have done our duty by him at all, but we have more nearly done our
duty by him than some of you think we have. I have been entirely satisfied
with the exodus of negro labor from the South, because we are appreciating
him more since he has begun to leave and we are treating him better.
You, on the other hand, are appreciating him more since he began to
arrive. We will learn more about him in liis absence and you will learn
more about him in his presence.

Men are fundamentally aUke but universally different. . . . The might
of democracy lies in the varying contributions of the differing souls that
make it.

Jesus was the Great Democrat. He was the founder of the cult of
confidence in men. He went about day after day giving Himself away in
the adventure of trust.

If we, then, are to found democracy at all, we must recognize not only
the common man's right to rule but his ability to rule.

If there is any organization on earth where the rule of the people ought
to be supreme, it would seem to be in the church.

The liberty of the sons of God tends to stress the great common things
rather than the little peculiar things.

The sections and elements of our country are not separate entities but
constituent parts of one whole. . . . Let the South no longer call the
North cold, nor the North call the South emotional. The East must not
speak of the radical West, nor the West of the effete East. Let not Prot-
estants say to CathoUcs, "You are unpatriotic"; nor Catholics to
Protestants, " You are intolerant." Let not the white man say to the
negro, " You are shiftless "; nor the negro to the white man, " You are
unkind." Let not capital say to labor, "You are unreasonable"; nor
labor to capital, " You are unjust." Let each thankfully realize that the
other is different and therefore necessary. The North is not cold, but
strong and practical; the South is not emotional, but idealistic; the East
is not effete, but with a mind to the past; the West is not radical, but new
and rejoicing as a strong man to run a race; the Catholic is not unpatriotic,
but loyal to his church; the Protestant it not intolerant, but loyal to his
land; the negro is not shiftless, but harmonic, melodic he is making a real
contribution to what might be called the rhythmics of rehgion and life.

Every day we make discoveries of the unexpected as the nations bring
out of their treasuries things new and old. Aloof America marches her
troops through Paris and the French children kneel in the streets. Self-
satisfied Britain cuts down her ancestral forests to build bridges in Flanders.
Russia goes democratic in a day and Russian women form the legion of
death. What we had regarded as mercenary Belgium, becomes a martyr
to an ideal. What we had called frivolous and decadent France, becomes
the world's bugler.

Nor are we to despise the efficiency of Germany. The real problem is
how to wed the heart of the Allies with the hand of Germany, how to com-
bine our idealism with their efficiency. Those reUgious leaders are wrong
who consign Germany to all the heUs that are. Germany is already in
hell. The thing is to get her out. Jesus did not hate those who were
possessed of demons; he cured them.

And may God hasten the day when we and our allies and our enemies
shall be in one camp, under one banner, fighting the one battle, against
disease and poverty and ignorance and superstition and injustice and sin.

412 EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES [1917

THE UNMINTED GOLD OF DEMOCRACY

BY REV. HUGH PEDLEY

On Sunday, the ninth day of September, from the street car, I saw at one
of the best known street-corners of Montreal a group of some seven or
eight young men in uniform. ..." Who are those men? " I asked.
" Americans," was the reply. I felt both proud and thankful that such
naen were to be the comrades of our sons and that the nation that gave them
birth was to be our ally in the great ordeal of human history.

Why were these men here? . . . They were bent on war's dread errand
and they were passing through Canadian territory to a Canadian port,
there to take ship for a European battlefield, . . . because they were sons
of freedom and because they believed that this freedom which they loved
and in which they had been reared had been subjected to brutal assault
and was in danger of being driven to the shambles.

When you scanned the details of the atrocities in Belgium following
hard upon the fundamental atrocity of Germany being in Belgium at all,
when the shudder of the Lusitania shook the world, when the understood
conventions of international law were flung to the winds, when at last you
discovered that an internal octopus of intrigue and conspiracy was sending
out its tentacles to all parts of the body politic, then you, too, saw the real
issue. . . . You, also, rose to the dignity of your stewardship and felt in
your heart " Necessity is laid upon me."

What is this democracy for which we are contending? . . . Democracy
is attractive because of its imperfections, for these imperfections are but
the shadow of its ideal and its ideal is man carried onward to the full
realization of his own mysterious and majestic personality.

A ragged, starving child is more terrible to think of than a youth blown
to fragments or lying on a stretcher in mortal agony; the tragedy is deeper
and more enduring.

A third direction along which democracy is called is that of the sacrificial
element in citizenship. By that I mean the creation of such a standard in
a nation that every man and woman within its coasts shall feel in honour
bound to share in the burdens as he shares in the blessings of his country.

Well for democracy when the spirit of devotion we demand in the soldier
shall bum in the heart of the citizen.

INDEX

Addresses: paob

Extracts 397

Moderator's — Henry M. Beardsley 368

Advance, Purchase of 44

Alaskan Missions 307

Allen, Rev. Ernest Bourner 404

Alternates (see Delegates)

Amendments :

Constitution 17

to Constitution and By-Laws 41,42,45,64

American Bible Society 45,114

American Board (see Societies)

American Congregational Association (see Societies)

American Council of World Alliance 46

American Missionary Association (see Societies)

Anniversary of Protestant Reformation 266

Annuity Fund (see Societies)

Anti-Saloon League 37

Apportionment :

Contributions " 150, 212

Plans Suggested by Convention on 64, 209

Percentages 56

Appreciation and Thanks 62

Assistant Moderators (see Moderator)

Atkins, Rev. G. Glen 409

Barton, Rev. WilUam E 5,30,407

Beardsley, Hon. Henry M 30,368

Benevolence, National Plan of 204

Blaisdell, Rev. James A 401

Board of Pastoral Supply 34, 106

Bradley, Rev. Dan F 400

Brown, Dean Charles R 408

Brown, Rev. Robert E 397

Business Committee (see Commissions and Committees)

Byington, Rev. Edwin H 399

By-Laws (see Constitution)

Cady, Rev. George L 406

Canada Congregational Union 62

Chase, Mrs. Charles F 403

413

414 INDEX

PAQE

Chicago — Invitation 47

" Church and College, The : How Can They Keep Together? "... 400

" Church and the Christ of the New Democracy, The " ■ 409

" Church and the University, The " 401

Church Assistants 116

Church Property, Conservation of ' 115

Church Union 35

Churches in the South 163

Comity, Federation and Unity, Commission on {see Commissions
and Committees)

Cotnmissions and Committees:

By-Laws . 19

Duties 22

Expenses 33

Members 5, 33

Number of 33, 104

Other Committees 20,22

Business Committee:

By-Laws ] . . . 20

Members 30

Recommendations 37, 52, 61, 62, 63

Resolution — War 41

Comity, Federation and Unity:

Meetings 33

Members ..." 6, 33, 61

Report 58, 243, 248

Corporation for the National Council:

By-Laws 26

Duties 27

Members 9, 26

Report 46, 117

Credentials:

By-Laws 20

Members 30

Evangelism:

Meetings 33

Members 6, 33, 58

Recommendations 62

Report 58,213

.,; Items in New Plan 219

Relations to Federal Council 217

Work of the Commission 214

INDEX 415

Commissions and Committees — Continued
Executive Committee:

FAOB

By-Laws 20

I>uties 21,65

Members 5 58

Recommendations 32 34 42 45 47 52

Report ..'..' 32, 92

American Bible Society 114

Church Assistants 116

Church Property, Conservation of 115

Council Commissions 104

Council Meeting gg

Council Membership 100

Denominational Periodicals 109

Expenses of Delegates 102

Finances 93

Minutes gg

Office Organization g2

Pastoral Supply 106

Printed Matter gg

Year Book g6

Greetings:

Greetings 45 62

Members 3I

Missions:

By-Laws 25

Committees of 13g

Duties 26,51

Expenses 26, 34

Members . 5, 25, 58

Recommendations 48 49 62

I^eport . 48, 52, 56, 64, 138

Apportionment Plan 150 204

Congregationalism in the South 163

Deputation Study I45

Deputation to the South 163

Churches Among Anglo-Saxon Population 167

Churches Among Negro Population 182

Schools for Negroes I9O

Work in Appalachians 176

Manual of Benevolence 209

National and State Organizations I59

Office Organization I53

Pilgrim Covenant of Stewardship 205

Pilgrim Memorial Fund Commission 147

PubUcity Matters I54

Readjustment of Missionary Boards 138

416 INDEX

Gotntnlssions and Cominittees — Continued jaocs
Missions : Report — Confirmed

Tercentenary 146

Uniform Retiring Age of Secretaries 154

Women's Organizations 152

Work for Negroes 158

National Service:

Appointment — Duties 47

Meetings 33

Members 7, 33, 47, 54, 61

Resolutions 34, 47

Treasurer 56

Nominating Committee:

By-Laws 20

Members 5

Recommendations 30, 36, 54, 55, 58, 60

Organization:

Meetings 33

Members 7, 33, 61

Pilgrim Memorial Fund 147

Appointment of 55

Duties ; . . : 48

Executive Committee 7, 48, 55

Fund 48, 49, 50, 51

Members 8, 48, 55, 61

Program Committee 31

Public Worship:

Duties 40, 104

Members 7

Report 32, 253

Religious and Moral Education:

Meetings '. 33

Members 6, 33, 61

Report 65, 257

Extension of Religious Education 264

Four Hundredth Anniversary of Protestant Reformation . 266

Lesson Courses 264

Recommendations 269

Religious Education in Colleges 272

Religious Education in the Home 263

Standardization 260

Church School 260

Training of Teachers 261

Bible Study in Colleges 261

INDEX 417

Commissions and Committees — Continued »•*«*
Religious and Moral Education: Report — Continued

Topics for Discussion 267

Work of Present Commission 258

Work of Previous Commission . 258'

Representation on International Lesson Committee iijj{i . . 61

Social Service:

Meetings 33-

Members " 6, 33, 58

Report 52, 221, 230

Cooperation with Other Denominations 227

Investigations 225'

Other Secretarial Activities 224, 226-

Program 223

Publications 228

Research 229

SUde Bureau 229-

Social Service Bureau 230

Speakers' Bureau 230

Surveys 225

WarWork 227

War Resolution 32

Temperance :

Meetings 33

Members 6, 33, 58

Report 32, 37, 239

Congregational Board of Ministerial Relief and Annuity Fund

{see Societies)
Congregational Church Building Society (see Societies)
Congregational Education Society {see Societies)
Congregational Home Missionar}^ Society {see Societies)
Congregational Sunday School and Publishing Society {see Societies)

Congregaiionalist Merger 44, 45-

Congregational Union of Canada 62

Constitution and By-Laws:

Amendments 17, 64

By-Laws ~ 17

Alternates 29, 43

Call of Meeting ' 18

Committees 19>

Commission on Missions 25

Commissions 22

Congregational National Societies 22

Corporation 26-

Devotional and Other Services 27

418 INDEX

Constitution and By-Laws — Continued paqb

By-Laws — Continued

Election of Non-Residents 29, 43

Executive Committee 21

Fellowship with other Bodies 28

Filling Vacancies 29, 43

Formation of the Roll 18

Moderator 18

Printed BaUots 29, 43

Printing of Reports 28

PubUcation of Statistics 28

Secretary 19

Temporary Substitution of Delegates 28

Term of Office 19

Term of Substitutes 29, 43

Time Limitation 28

Treasurer • 19

Faith 14

Fellowship 15

Meetings . 17

Members 15

Corresponding 16

Delegates 15

Honorary 16

Term of Membership 17

Name 15

PoUty 15

Purpose 15

<i;orporation for the National Council {see Commissions and Com-
mittees)
Council Meetings (see Meetings)

Council Registration 65

Coimcil Sermon 384

Credentials Committee (see Commissions and Committees)

€reed 14

Day, Rev. WiUiam Horace 5, 30, 65

Delegates, Council:

Alternates ." 29,43

Constitution on 15

Corresponding 16

Council Membership 66, 100

Election 29

Expenses 35, 52, 102

Honorary 16

INDEX 419

Delkgates, Council — Continued pa.oe
Lists :

Alphabetical — Term expiring 1919 85

Alphabetical — Term expiring 1921 88

By Association 66

Substitute Delegates 91

Quorum 17

Seating 31

Non-Residents 29, 43

Temporary Substitution ' 28,29,43

Total Number 65

Term 17

Vacancies 29, 43

Delegate to Japan 61

Delegates from Disciples Communion 60

" Democracy's Broadening Vision " 410

Denominational Periodicals 109

Deputation to the South

Report of 49, 163

Study of 145

Devotional Services, Council 27

Douglas, Rev. Lloyd C 401

Edmonds, Rev. H. M 410

" Effectively Organized Church, The " 402

Evangelism, Commission on (see Commissions and Committees)

Executive Committee (see Commissions and Committees)

Extracts from Addresses 397

" Factors in the Creation of a Congregationalism " 405

Faith 14

Federal Council (see Societies, Other)

Fellowship, Wider 15

Fellowship, with Other Bodies 28

Formation of Roll 18

Fosdick Commission 54

" Foundation of Authority is Laid in the Free Consent of the People,

The" • 400

" Four Hundred Years of Protestantism " 408

" From the Point of View of the College " 401

" General Situation as to Higher Education under Denominational

Auspices, The " 400

Genesee Association Memorial 35, 41

Grand Rapids, Invitation 47

Greetings, Committee on (see Commissions and Committees)

Greetings 44, 45, 62, 65

420 INDEX

PAOB

Herring, Rev. Hubert C 5,31,65,66,117

Indian Missions 306

International Council:

Invitation to 32

Recommendation 38

Report 32

Resolution 46

International Lesson Committee 61,264

Invitations for next meeting 47

Japan, Representatives to 56

Jenkins, Rev. Frank E 405

Kelly, Rev. Robert L 400

Kingsley, Rev. Harold M 5,30

Los Angeles — Invitation 47

Manual of Benevolence 209

Meeting, International Council 32, 38

Meetings, Council:

Call for 18

Change of Date and Place 98

Constitution on 17, 21

Invitations 47

Sessions 13

Special 17

Stated 17

Time for Next Meeting 47, 98

Meetings:

Annuity Fund 36

Board of Ministerial Relief 36

Commissions 33

Members of the Council {see Delegates)

Membership, Council 31, 64, 65, 100

Memorials 31, 35, 41, 45

Merriam, Rev. Charles E 402

Mills, Rev. Charles S 384

Minutes 30, 33, 98

Missionary' Agencies {see Societies)

Missionary Herald, merger 57

Missions, Commission on {see Commissions and Committees)

Moderator 5, 18, 30, 368

Moderators, Assistant 5, 18, 30

Moderators, Former 13

Moore, Rev. Frank L 398

INDEX 421

National Service Commission {see Commissions and Committees) ''^°"

National Societies (see Societies)

Nominating Committee {see Commissions and Committees)

North Dakota Overture 31

Non-Resident Delegates 29, 43

Office Organization .92,153

Officers of the Council 5, 31

Ohio Synod, Greeting from 43

Orders of Worship 40

Organization, Committee on {see Commissions and Committees)

" Our Churches and Schools Among the White People of the South " 405

Pastoral Supply 34, 106

Pedley, Rev. Hugh ^ 412

Pilgrim Memorial Fund Commission {see Commissions and Com-
mittees)

" Pilgrim Utterances in Their Present Day Application " 397

Place, Former Councils 13

Place, Selection of 21

Plan of Benevolence 204

Polity "^ 15

Porto Rican Missions 307

Preacher, Council 384

Preachers, Former Council 13

President — Resolution 52

Printed Baltots 29, 34, 45

Printed Matter 99

Printing of Reports 28

Program Committee 31

" Progress and Permanence ■' 397

Protestant Reformation 266

Publication of Statistics 28

Publicity Matters, Missionary Magazines 154

Public Worship, Commission on {see Commissions and Commit-
tees)

Purchase of Advance 44

Quorum 17

Recommendations and Resolutions:

Advance — Congregationalist Merger 44

Amendments to Constitution and By-Laws 41,42,45,64

American Bible Society 45

Annuity Fund 49

Anti-Saloon League 37

Appreciation and Thanks 62

Business Committee 37,38,40,42,43,52,66,61,62,63

422 INDEX

Recommendations and Resolutions — Continued paoe

Commissions — Regarding 33

Commission on

Comity, Federation and Unity 58

Evangelism 62

Executive Committee ., 32,34,42,44,45,47,52

Missions ; 48, 49, 62

National Service 34, 47

Pilgrim Memorial Fund 48

Public Worship 40

Religious and Moral Education . 269

Social Service • ssiorwhci ana sortoii- • 32

Temperance 37

Delegates — Alternates, Filling Vacancies, Non-Residents,

Term of Substitutes 43

Genesee Association 35, 41

International Council - 38

International Friendship .jn'9[ lisrfT aly. 46, 54

Interpretations in 1913 Minutes regarding membership .... 43

Minutes 33

Nebraska Conference 31

Next Meeting 47

Nominating Committee 30, 36, 54, 55, 58, 60

North Dakota Conference 41

Pastoral Supply 34

President 62

Printed Ballots 34, 45

Suffrage 42

Tax, per capita 32

Tercentenary 48, 63

Theological Seminaries •. . 47, 63

War 32,41

World AlUance 46

Young People 31, 53, 55

Registration, Council 65

Religious and Moral Education, Commission on {see Commissions

> t and Committees)

Repeal of Interpretations 42

Reports :

Commissions and Committees:

Comity Federation and Unity 58, 243

Corporation 46, 117

Evangelism 58, 213

Executive Committee 32, 34, 92

Missions — Deputation to the South . . 49, 52, 56, 64, 138, 163, 204

PubUc Worship 32, 253

R eh gious and Moral Education tMiJ-rt^in. 65,257

INDEX 42^

Reports — Continued paqk

Commissions and Committees — Continued

Social Service 52, 221

Temperance 32, 239

Federal Council 363

National Societies:

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions .... 280

American Missionary Association 300

Congregational Board of Ministerial Relief — Annuity Fund

36, 358, 361

Congregational Church Building Society 322

Congregational Education Society 331

Congregational Home Missionary Society 293

Congregational Sunday School and Publishing Society .... 340

Printing of 28

Secretary 119

Treasurer 32, 37, 134

Resolutions (see Recommendations and Resolutions)

" Right Hand of Fellowship, The " 399

Seating of Delegates 31

Secretary 5, 19, 31, 66. 119

Secretary for Young People's Work 56

Secretaries:

Former 13

Uniform Retiring Age 154

Sermon, Council 384

Sessions, National Council 13

" Social Convictions among Congregationalists " 406

Social Service, Commission on (see Commissions and Committees)

Societies, National:

Apportionment for 56

By-Laws 22

Closing Accounts 62

Home Societies :

Membership 24

Officers and Committees — Meetings — Reports . . . . 24, 25

Readjustment 138

'American Board:

' Apportionment 56

Functions of — Meetings — Membership 23

Officers and Committees 10, 23

Report 24, 280

Africa 289

Austria 287

India 289

424 INDEX

Societies, National — Continued pao»
American Board: Report — Continued

Japan 28&

Mexico 28&

New Workers 284

Turkey and the Balkans 290

American Missionary Association:

Apportionment 5&

Officers 11

Report 300

Alaskan Missions 307

Indian Missions 306

Porto Rican 307

Subsidies 30^

Utah 310

Congregational Board of Ministerial Relief and Annuity
Fund:

Apportionment 5ft

Meeting — Members 3ft

Officers 11

Pilgrim Memorial Fund 49

Plan for Expansion 49, 51

Report 36,358,361

Congregational Church Building Society:

Apportionment 56

Officers 10

Report 322

Congregational Education Society:

Apportionment 56

Officers 11

Report 331

Congregational Home Missionary Society:

Apportionment 5ft

Officers 10

Report 293

Finances ^ 294

Policies 295

Realignment 295

Congregational Sunday School and Publishing Society:

Apportionment 56

Name ^1

Officers 11

Report 340

INDEX 425

Societies, National — Continued «'Aa"
Woman's Boards:

Apportionment 56

Officers 12

Woman's Home Missionary Federation:

Officers 12

Societies, Other:

American Bible Society 45,114

American Congregational Association — Officers 12

Congregational Board of Pastoral Supply 106

Congregational Publishing Society — Officers 12

Federal Council 46, 59, 62, 217, 363

" Spirit of Jesus in International Relations, The " 409

Stewardship 204

" Strategy of the Church in the Crisis of the World " 384

Tax, per capita 32

Temperance, Commission on (see Commissions and Committees)

Temporary Substitution 28

Tercentenary 38, 39, 48, 146

Term of Service :

Commissions 22

Delegates 17

Executive Committee 20

Moderators 18

Nominating Committee 20

Secretary 19

Treasurer 19

Term of Substitutes 29, 43

" Testing the Gospel in the Twentieth Century " 368

Theological Seminaries 47, 63

" Three Centuries of Pilgrim History " 407

Time Limit .28,31

Treasurer 5, 19, 31, 32, 66

Pteport 37, 134

Treasurers, Former 13

Treasurer National Service Commission 56

" Unified Type of Woman's Organization, The " 403

Unity 35

" Unminted Gold of Democracy, The " 412

"Use of the Parish House, The" . 402

Vacancies in Delegations 29, 43

Van Horn, Rev. Francis J 409

AMERICAN BOABD OF COMMISSIONERS

rOR /'

FOREIGN MISSIONS UBRABX " ^

426 INDEX "-"^^

PAOE

Walker, Rev. John J 5,31,66,134

Wax, Resolutions on 32

' ' We Ought to Defend Our Lawful Possessions if We Are Able " . . 398
" Where Have We Arrived in the Matter of Young People's

Organizations? " 404

Woman's Boards (see Societies)

Woman's Home Missionary Federation (see Societies)

Women's Organizations 152

WorldAlliance 46

Year Book :

PubUcation 28, 96

Y.M.C.A.WarCouncU 54

Young People, Resolution Concerning 55

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Full text of "Adresses, reports, statements of benevolent societies, constitution, minutes, roll of delegates, etc. … October 10-17, 1917"

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